)l.\ 


■rir,i\: 


';'•:■ /o; 


^H^j^^^^^^^^^  ^^-^ 


Courtesy  M.  K.  &  T.  Ky. 
AMKkRA    LliADS    THE    WORLD    IN    COTTON 


INDUSTRIAL  — COMMERCIAL 


GEOGRAPHY 


OF  THE 


UNITED  STATES 


By 


L.  C.  RUSMISEL 

Principal   High   School  of  Commerce 
Omaha,   Nebraska 


THE  A.  N.  PALMER  COMPANY 

New  York    Boston     Chicago     Cedar  Rapids 

191-1: 


.'^n.^fiQ 


Copyright,    1914, 

BY 

The  a.    N.    Palmer   Company. 


HC 
PREFACE 

This  book  is  not  a  technical  treatise  upon  the  indus- 
tries discussed,  but  simply  an  attempt  to  describe,  in  a 
clear  and  simple  way,  some  of  the  every-day  features,  as 
well  as  some  of  the  unusual  things,  that  belong  to  these 
industries.  I  have  attempted  to  keep  constantly  in  view 
the  human  elements  of  the  stories.  At  the  same  time, 
the  leading  thought  has  been  to  emphasize  the  importance 
of  these  activities,  as  carried  on  in  the  United  States. 
The  student  is  free  to  investigate  their  existence  in  other 
countries  should  he  desire  to  do  so. 

The  nations  that  control  the  world  are  those  which 
lead  industrially,  for  this  is  an  industrial  age.  Perhaps 
ninety  per  cent,  (^f  our  pu])ils  will  enter  some  form  of 
industrial  life,  as  the  whole  world  is  united  by  a  net- 
work of  commerce  and  industry.  The  study  of  the  great 
industries  is  the  surest  way  to  obtain  a  practical  knowl- 
edge of  any  country.  Commercial  Geography  is  a  study 
of  the  centralization  of  industry,  and  has  become  one  of 
the  most  essential  branches  in  our  schools. 

The  most  valuable  stenographer  is  not  simply  the 
most  speedy  shorthand  writer,  but  the  one  who  can,  by 
reason  of  her  general  knowledge,  make  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  accurate  transcript  with  reasonable  speed.  The 
best-salaried  accountant  is  not  alone  the  finest  penman  or 
most  rapid  calculator,  but  the  one  who  is  most  familiar 
with  the  sources  of  supply,  process  of  manufacture,  and 
cost  of  the  common  commodities  with  which  he  has  to 
reckon.  Likewise,  the  most  successful  business  man  is 
not  the  narrow-minded  tradesman,  but  the  broad-gauged, 
calculating  man  of  affairs,  whose  knowledge  of  the 
world's  great  industries  gives  him  power  to  cope  with 
the  problems  of  business  life. 


viii  Preface 

"'J'lic  teacher  cannot  teach  that  -cchich  he  does  not  kiioiv; 
and  he  has  not  tamjht  until  the  pupil  has  learned." 

The  teacher  of  commercial  science  must  be  able  to 
inspire  the  class  to  investigation.  These  studies  are 
simply  used  as  types,  and  the  earnest  student  will  investi- 
gate others  after  the  manner  suggested  here.  It  has  not 
been  my  puri)ose  to  define  a  narrow  method,  or  to  ])re- 
scribe  anv  fixed  number  of  topics,  ])ut  rather  to  encourage 
varietv  and  originality  upon  the  part  of  both  teacher  and 
student. 

I  have  had  the  greatest  success  with  the  topical  or 
laboratorv  plan;  and  these  chapters  were  written  to  fill 
a  demand  from  teachers  all  o\er  the  countr}-  for  con- 
cise, condensed  information,  not  found  m  the  ordinary 
text-book,  which  may  be  used  in  the  school-room  and 
illustrated  bv  the  use  of  process  exhibits.  These  may  be 
iibtained  from  maimfacturing  concerns  and  from  other 
sources. 

Most  of  the  information  given  in  this  book  has  been 
gathered  by  personal  visits  to  the  mines,  mills,  fields, 
forests,  and  centers  of  industry  mentioned.  The  value  of 
visits  of  inspection  cann(~)t  be  over-estimated. 

Experience  will  evolve  new  methods,  but  my  pur- 
pose has  been  to  inspire  a  Ijeginning  and  encourage  the 
student  to  look  beyond. 

I  am  under  ol)ligalions  to  ihe  following  tirm^  for 
assistance,  gi\en  by  reading  parts  of  the  manuscript  and 
for  many  valuable  suggestions:  The  Union  I'acilic  Rail- 
road, Omaha,  Xeb. ;  The  Cunard  Steamship  Company, 
Xew  York;  'I'he  Chicago  I'.oard  of  Trade;  The  I'erkey 
and  (lay  I'Tn-niture  Company,  (irand  Rapids,  Michigan; 
'I'he  .\tlas  Portland  Cement  Compan\,  .\'ew  "S'ork  ;  The 
Strathmnre  i'aper  Company,  Mittineague,  Mass.;  The 
International  Harvester  Company,  Service  Department. 
Chicago.  111.;  Swift  and  Company,  Chicago;  Mr.  K.  W  . 
Moore  of  Kirkendall  Shoe  Mfg.  Company,  Omaha,  Neb.; 
'I'he    Pittsburgh    Steamship   Company.   Cleveland,    ()liio; 


Preface  ix 

The  American  Smelting  &  Refining-  Company,  Omaha, 
Neb.;  The  Rookwood  Potteries,  Cincinnati,  Ohio;  Wash- 
burn-Crosby Milling  Company,  Minneapolis,  Minn. ; 
Corticelli  Silk  Alills,  Florence,  Mass. ;  Belding  Bros.  Silk 
Co.,  Belding,  Mich. ;  Calumet  &  Hecla  Mining  Company, 
Calumet,  Mich. ;  The  United  States  Steel  Corporation ; 
and  many  individuals  who  have  shown  me  courtesies 
when  visiting  the  mills,  mines,  factories  and  other  in- 
dustrial institutions. 

L.  C.  R. 


CONTENTS 


CHAriKK  PAGE 

I.  The  Evolution  of  the  Railway i 

IT.  The  Evolution  of  the  Steamboat lo 

III.  The  Commerce  of  Our  Inland  Seas 19 

IV.  Four  Great  Canals 28 

V.  Watering  the   \\'aste   Places 36 

VI.  The   Farming  Industry 46 

VII.  The   Corn   Crop 55 

VIIT.  The   Wheat    Industry 64 

IX.  Rice,  the   Royal  Cereal 75 

X.  The   Grain   Market 82 

XI.  The   Production  and   Manufacturing  of   Sugar Qi 

XII.  Coffee,  Tea  and  Cocoa 99 

XIII.  Cotton   is   King 108 

XIV.  Sheep   and  Wool HQ 

XV.  Silk— "The   Gold   of   Textiles" 129 

XVI.  The  Lumber  Industry I39 

XVII.  Furniture  from  Forest  to  Fireside 148 

XVIII.  Portland  Cement  and  Concrete  Construction 158 

XIX.  The  History  and  Manufacture  of  Paper 166 

XX.  Printing  and  Allied  Industries 1/5 

XXI.  Dairy    Products. !. 1S4 

XXII.  A  Trip  Through  Packing  Town I94 

XXIII.  The  Leather  Industry  and  Shoe  Manufacture 204 

XXIV.  The   Salmon   Canning  Industry 212 

XXV.  Iron  and  Steel 221 

XXVI.  The  Coal   Supply 232 

XXVII.  Petroleum  and  Its  Products 241 

XXVIII.  Gold  From  Mine  to  :Mint 251 

XXIX.  A  Model  Copper  Mine 261 

XXX.  Pottery  and  Clay- Working  Industries 270 

XXXI.  Conservation    278 

XXXII.  Reference  Books  for  Research  Work 287 

XXXIII.  Index    288 


CHAPTER   I 

THE   EVOLUTION   OF  THE 
RAILWAY 

Transportation  and  Commerce.— When  studying  any 
industry  it  is  very  necessary  to  become  familiar  with  the 
lines  of  transportation  connecting  the  points  between 
which  the  commodity  in  question  is  shipped.  Transpor- 
tation and  commerce  are  so  intimately  related  that  the 
student  must  become  familiar  with  the  leading  systems 
of  traffic;  he  must  acquire  an  interest  in  tracing  ship- 
ments and  become  proficient  in  estimating  the  cost  of 
trips  to  various  parts  of  the  country.  In  the  business 
world  distances  are  measured  for  most  purposes  of  com- 
merce in  hours,  not  in  miles. 

The  more  thrilling  stories  of  human  progress  are  in- 
timately bound  up  in  the  problem  of  commerce  and 
transportation.  It  was  a  commercial  problem  that  fur- 
nished a  motive  for  Columbus  in  his  search  for  a  new 
route  to  the  Indies.  The  sea  was  ever  the  great  highway 
of  commerce  for  the  ancients.  But  finally  the  invention 
of  steam  and  electric  motive  power  with  their  application 
to  the  railways  worked  a  wonderful  transformation.  The 
problem  of  rapid  transportation  was  solved. 

We  are  nearer  by  hours  to  the  remote  parts  of  the 
earth  today  than  we  were  to  some  of  our  own  cities  a  few 
decades  ago.  Wonderful  indeed  have  been  the  changes 
made  during  the  past  fifty  years !  Our  food  comes  to 
our  tables  from  distant  places  today  almost  as  fresh  as 
if  it  grew  in  our  own  gardens.  Our  parents  remember 
when  it  cost  fifteen  dollars  to  haul  a  barrel  of  flour  across 
the  Alleghany  mountains.  Our  grandmothers  found  it 
necessary  to  weave  their  cloth,  and  make  the  clothing,  for 

I 


2  Industrial-Commerciai.    Geography 

the  whole  family,  instead  of  buying  the  garments  as  we  do 
today.  Once  it  took  two  days  to  go  by  stagecoach  from 
New  York  to  Philadelphia,  and  a  whole  week  from  New 
York  to  Boston.  Six  weeks  or  more  were  required  to 
cross  the  Atlantic.  Half  the  world  was  in  jjractical 
ignorance  as  to  the  doings  of  the  other  half.  In  what 
way  can  you  account  for  the  wonderful  development  of 
this  country  during  the  past  hundred  years? 

Value  of  the  Railroads. — The  railroads  of  this  coun- 
try are   largeh^  responsible   for  this  great   development, 


TJlli    FORERUNNER    OF    THE    RAILROAD 


for  they  are  inseparably  connected  with  every  conunercial 
cnter])rise.  Wherever  there  was  anything  to  haul  they 
built  to  it.  No  obstacle  was  too  great  for  them  to  over- 
come. What  do  the  railroads  bring  to  our  doors?  How 
do  they  help  us  dispose  of  our  surplus  products?  Why 
do  tlicy  stand  for  prosperity  and  ])]cnl\?  in  what  ways 
are  their  i)rosi)erity  and  that  of  the  community  they 
serve  related?  In  what  way  has  Stephenson's  great  dis- 
covery done  more  to  bring  mankind  together  than  any 


OF    THE    United    States  3 

other  one  discovery  in  the  histor}^  of  the  world?  Closely 
related  to  railroad  development  has  been  the  evolution  of 
the  steel  industry,  which  has  made  possible  the  great 
changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the  construction  of 
tracks,  bridges,  and  the  modern  train.  Railroad  equip- 
ment with  mammoth  engines  weighing  two  hundred  and 
fifty  tons,  pulling  entire  trains  of  all-steel  freight  cars, 
or  luxuriously  ecjuipped  steel  passenger  coaches  tell  a 
story  of  wonderful  progress. 

A  Story  of  Growth. — In   183 1  the  first  railroad  was 
operated    in    America.      Then    the    entire    equipment    of 


Courtesy   N.    i'.    Central  Lines 
THE    FIRST    TRAIN    IN    AMERICA 


what  is  now  the  great  New  York  Central  System  con- 
sisted of  the  primitive  locomotive,  "DeWitt  Clinton," 
and  three  very  small  passenger  cars,  old  Concord  coaches 
made  over.  The  total  length  of  the  line  was  then  seven- 
teen miles  and  the  speed  of  the  train  fourteen  miles  per 
hour!  Today  this  one  system  maintains  and  operates 
over  twelve  thousand  miles  of  track,  hundreds  of  the 
most  elaborately  equipped  passenger  trains,  made  up 
from  an  equipment  of  over  four  thousand  coaches  and 
fifty-nine  hundred  locomotives.     It  uses   over  one  hun- 


4  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

dred  and  seventy-five  thousand  freight  cars,  carrying  in 
one  year  une  hundred  and  five  million  tons  of  freight. 

Contrast  this  with  the  time  when  the  railroad  di- 
rectors elected  "train  captains,"  as  the  conductors  were 
called,  and  when  they  passed  resolutions  that  no  credit 
be  given  for  railroad  passage.  Yet,  further  back  than 
this,  in  the  history  of  American  railroads,  the  engineer 
collected  the  fares  and  the  fireman  handled  the  baggage 
and  freight.  Also,  imagine  the  consternation  of  an  early 
president  of  one  of  the  leading  lines  of  today,  when, 
having"  only  two  engines,  he  was  forced  to  sell  one  to  a 
rival  road  in  order  to  obtain  money  with  which  to  pay 
his  taxes. 

The  Evolution  of  System. — In  the  early  days  com- 
panies were  organized  to  build  railways  without  regard 
to  the  trend  of  the  traffic,  and  the  result  was  that  the 
East  was  covered  by  small  roads,  each  operated  inde- 
pendently. To  make  matters  worse  each  company  had 
its  own  idea  as  to  the  size  of  cars,  and  the  "gauge"  was 
from  three  to  six  feet,  making  transfer  of  cars  impossible. 
At  transfer  points  the  passenger  must  look  after  his  own 
baggage  and  buy  a  new  ticket.  To  accommodate  local 
interests  the  schedules  w'ere  generally  such  that  the 
passengers  must  wait  over  night  before  resuming  their 
journey.  The  whole  system  was  so  unsatisfactory  that 
many  companies  became  bankrupt.  Then  Commodore 
Vandcrbih.  who  at  that  time  owned  large  ficets  of  ves- 
sels, began  to  buy  up  the  lines,  consolidate  them  and  ])ut 
them  on  standard  gauge.  This  action  was  fiercely  op- 
posed, as  it  ruined  the  hotel  and  transfer  business  for 
trains  to  run  throui^^h  the  towns,  but  this  opposition  gave 
way  tti  progress,  and  one  of  the  w'orld's  greatest  systems 
was  founded. 

How  Communication  Assists  Civilization. — The  civ- 
ih/ation  of  today  differs  from  that  of  jKist  decades,  prin- 
cipally on  account  of  tiie  changes  that  have  been  wrought 
by   more   rapid   travel   and   communication.      The   states 


OF    THE    United    States  5 

west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  could  hardly  have  become 
an  important  integral  part  of  this  nation  but  for  the 
railroads.  It  might  be  interesting  to  note,  briefly,  the 
enormous  expense  connected  with  the  construction  of 
the  Union  Paciflc,  the  pioneer  railroad  of  the  West. 
Owing  to  the  scarcity  of  timber  in  the  territory  through 
which  the  line  was  built,  it  was  necessary  to  ship  ties 
from  the  East,  and  the  cost  laid  down  at  Omaha  was 
$2.50  per  tie.     AMiat  is  the  average  cost  of  railroad  ties? 


Courtesy  N.  Y.  Central  Lines 
MODERN    ELECTRIC    LOCOMOTIVE 


Mention  of  the  vast  saving  in  the  transportation  of 
postal  matter  will  at  least  l)e  interesting.  In  one  year 
alone  (1854)  the  Government  paid  $80,000  for  monthly 
mail  stage  from  the  Missouri  River  to  Stockton,  Cali- 
fornia, and  the  receipts  for  postage  during  that  year  were 
only  $1,255.  The  letter  postage  rate  was  ten  cents  per 
half  ounce. 

The  railroad  companies  build  for  the  future,  knowing 


6  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

that  the  traffic  will  eventually  warrant  the  expenditure. 
They  set  the  pace  and  the  country  builds  to  it.  In  this 
way  railroads  do  for  civilization  what  individuals  and 
communities  could  never  do  for  themselves.  Our  fields 
and  mines,  our  forests  and  factories,  owe  their  develop- 
ment to  the  coming-  of  railroads. 

Competition  and  Skill. — These  conditions  have  not 
come  without  much  competition,  by  which  the  most 
powerful  lines  have  absorbed  the  weaker  ones.    The  fight 


Till-: 


Courtesy  Burlington  Route 
.IXIKIKS     OF     TliAVEL 


for  industrial  progress  has  been  a  very  fierce  one.  People 
have  different  views  upon  the  value  of  consolidation,  just 
as  they  did  in  earlier  days.  Such  combinations,  however, 
are  likely  to  continue  so  long  as  the  industrial  situation 
makes  them  possible. 

The  world  has  witnessed  great  feats  of  engineering 
skill  during  recent  years,  which  makes  us  wonder  what 
is  yet  to  come.  Perhaps,  within  a  decade,  we  may  go 
by   train   direct  from   New   York   to   South   .\nicrica,  or, 


OF    THE    United    States  7 

via  Alaska,  across  the  Bering-  Sea,  to  China  and  across 
Asia  to  Europe.  This  does  not  seem  so  wonderful  when 
we  think  of  a  few  things  that  have  been  accomplished 
in  America.  Already  we  have  a  railroad  over  the  sea, 
for  of  the  128  miles  between  Homes;^ad  ^and  Key  West, 
Florida,  75  miles  are  over  water.  At  one  place  there  is  a 
steel  and  concrete  viaduct  seven  miles  long,  the  entire 
track  being-  thirty-three  feet  above  low  tide  water  mark. 
Many  miles  of  the  track  arc  built  of  re-enforced  concrete 
arches,  varying  from  fifteen  to  fifty  feet  in  width,  l)uilt 


^smmmmm^MM^w^ihW<-£'' 


IL_. .___      :>..^     .._     . 

Courtesy  Florida   East   Coast  Ry. 
A    RAILROAD    RUNS    TO    KEY    WEST 

to  last  for  centuries.    This  brings  the  Florida  East  Coast 
Railroad  within  ninety  miles  of  Cuba. 

To  save  forty-four  miles  and  avoid  some  steep 
grades,  in  a  race  across  the  continent,  Harriman  built 
the  Great  Salt  Lake  cut-ofl-",  a  trestle  over  sixty  miles 
long  across  Great  Salt  Fake.  It  is  one  of  the  most 
wonderful  and  courageous  engineering  feats  of  modern 
times  and  cost  ten  million  dollars,  but  it  saves  the  Union 
Pacific   a   million   dollars   a  year  in   operating  expenses. 


8  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

IMany  other  feats  performed  in  building  American 
railways  are  equally  wonderful.  In  the  Royal  Gorge  of 
the  Arkansas,  the  cleft  between  the  rocks  is  too  narrow 
for  both  road  and  river,  so  the  railway  bridge  is  swung 
from  steel  girders,  from  which  the  walls  rise  almost  per- 
pendicularly for  three  thousand  feet.  The  Moffat  road  is 
demonstrating  what  has  always  been  considered  the  im- 
possible, by  building  an  air-line  between  Denver  and  Salt 
Lake.  The  first  seventy-five  miles  of  this  railroad  cost 
$100,000  per  mile.  It  runs  through  thirty-two  tunnels, 
yet  it  is  a  standard  gauge  road  with  easy  grades.  Only 
recently  the  Pennsylvania  System  has  accomplished  the 
task  of  tunneling  under  the  Hudson  River,  and  laying 
double  tracks  within  immense  steel  tubes  under  the  river 
and  into  the  very  heart  of  New^  York  City. 

Electricity  as  Motive  Power. — Other  wonders  may 
be  accomplished  l)y  tlic  use  of  electricity  as  motive  power. 
The  first  electric  car  to  be  operated  in  the  United  States 
was  installed  in  1886.  The  progress  of  electric  railroads 
has  been  \ery  ra])i(l.  City  after  city  made  use,  in  rapid 
succession,  of  the  trollcv  service,  for  the  jjcoplc  did  !i  l 
ha\e  to  be  persuaded  to  forsake  the  horse-car  and  the 
steam  "dummy."  Then  came  the  interurban,  and  now 
the  most  populous  sections  of  the  country  are  netted  with 
trolley  lines.  In  many  Eastern  sections,  they  have  l)een 
the  means  of  reducing  rates  for  passenger  and  freight 
traffic  and  the  scrxice  is  first-class. 

All  roads  now  use  electric  locomotives  for  service  in 
long  tunnels  and  in  cities  where  there  are  ordinances 
against  the  smoke  nuisance.  The  New  "S'ork  Central 
and  l'enns\  hania  systems,  as  well  as  t)thcr  lines,  use 
them  for  indling  all  trains  within  the  city  limits. 

The  gasoline  motor  car  is  very  practical  for  service 
on  >liort  lines  and  for  suburban  traffic.  The  latest  mod- 
els arc  practically  dust-proof  and  run  with  almost  the 
ease  of  the  automobile. 


OF    THE    United    States  9 

The  easy  and  cheap  transportation  of  commercial 
products  afforded  by  the  rapid  growth  of  railroads  has 
greatly  increased  the  exchange  of  products.  Why,  then, 
has  the  evolution  of  the  railroads  been  a  great  factor  in 
the  eniirnidus  development  of  this  country? 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  What  railroads  enter  the  city  where  you  live? 
\A'liat  are  their  principal  terminal  points?  Obtain  fold- 
ers and  study  the  maps  showing  these  lines  and  con- 
necting lines. 

2.  What  is  a  pool?  A  dift'erential  ?  A\^hat  is  the 
purpose  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission?  What 
State  Officials  attend  to  the  interests  of  the  people  in 
their  dealings  with  the  railroads? 

3.  What  would  be  the  advantage  of  Government 
ownership  over  corporate  control? 

4.  What  is  the  right  of  cuiiiiciit  domain?  What 
do  the  people  get  in  return  for  the  bestowal  of  this  right? 

5.  How  may  a  shipper  know  that  he  is  not  paying 
more  than  the  established  freight  rates?  What  is  a  re- 
bate?   Are  rebates  legal? 

6.  What  are  the  advantages  of  electric  locomo- 
tives over  those  propelled  by  steam? 

7.  What  is  the  comparative  maintenance  cost  of 
automobiles,  automobile  trucks  and  carriages  pulled  by 
horses? 

8.  What  precautions  are  taken  by  the  railroads 
to  prevent  accidents?  In  case  of  lawsuits,  what  courts 
have  jurisdiction? 

9.  Why  should  not  the  freight  rate  for  hauling 
crated  furniture  and  iron  ore  be  the  same  per  ton? 

10.  Mow  are  railroads  factors  in  the  location  of 
towns  and  cities? 

11.  Obtain  folders  and  other  printed  matter  at  the 
local  ticket  office  and  learn  the  principal  terminal  points 
of  various  lines. 


lo  Industrial-Commercial    GEOGRArHV 

CHAPTER    TI 

THE   EVOLUTION   OF   THE 
STEAMBOAT 

Commerce  Promotes  Progress. — A  hundred  vears 
or  more  ago,  each  section  ol'  this  country  was  ])racticallv 
self-sustaining-.  Each  locality  grew  its  own  foodstuffs 
and  manufactured  its  own  clothing.  There  was  not  much 
necessity  ior  transportation  facilities  of  any  kind.  But 
such  life  was  detrimental  to  the  progress  of  civilization. 
Commerce  increases  intelligence,  and  under  the  condi- 
tions that  formerly  prevailed  there  was  little  of  the 
present-day  enlightenment  that  comes  with  the  exchange 
of  products  as  well  as  of  ideas. 

The  Need  of  Transportation. — As  the  natural  re- 
sources of  this  country  began  to  be  exploited  there  grew 
up  a  demand  for  means  of  transportation,  the  first  being 
ox-carts,  pack-horses  and  boats  of  various  kinds.  Our 
early  manufacturer  found  it  necessary  to  look  to  others  for 
his  food  and  clothing  as  well  as  for  the  materials  needed 
in  his  business.  In  a  like  manner  countries  must  look 
to  each  other  for  what  they  cannot  i)roduce,  each  selling 
to  the  others  that  of  which  they  have  an  al)undance.  In 
tliis  way  transportation  has  become  a  necessity,  just  as 
important  as  any  other  industry,  for  without  it  lousiness 
on  a  large  scale  could  not  exist.  Ilie  whole  world  looks 
to  the  L'm'ted  States  for  cotton,  meat,  wheat  and  steel,  to 
Australia  for  wool  and  to  the  Orient  for  tea.  .\t  the 
])resent  time  about  ninety  thousand  saihng  xc'^^els  and 
forty  thousand  steamships  are  in  commission  u])on  the 
high  seas,  effecting  this  exchange  among  nations. 

How  the  Ocean  Is  Used. — 'I1ic  ocean  is  the  common 
highway  of  rdl  countries.  Our  international  commerce 
is  carried  on  upon  it,  and  established  ocean  routes  l)e- 
tween  all  important  countries  and  scajjctrts  have  been  in 


OF    THE    United    States  ii 

existence  for  centuries.  Formerly  sailing-  vessels  were 
used  exclusively,  and  they  yet  occupy  an  important  place, 
there  being  approximately  three  times  as  many  sailing 
vessels  in  commission  as  there  are  steamships ;  however, 
the  largest  vessels  all  belong  to  the  latter  class.  Slow 
freight,  or  that  which  is  imperishable,  can  be  transported 
upon  sailing  vessels  at  the  lowest  possible  cost,  as  the 
boats  are  cheaper  in  construction,  re(|uire  no  machinery, 
and  can  be  manned  with  smaller  crews. 

The  Development  of  the  Steamboat. — In  1807  Robert 
Fulton's  Clcnnont,  the  first  practical  steamboat  ever  built, 
ran  up  the  Hudson  River.  The  world  looked  upon  it  as 
a  pretty  toy  and  had  no  conception  of  what  it  meant,  l)ut 
it  made  possible  mighty  things. 

The  hull  of  the  Clcruioiif  was  one  hundred  and  forty 
feet  long,  sixteen  feet  wide  and  seven  feet  deep.  As 
there  were  no  shops  in  this  country,  the  engine  was  l)uilt 
in  Fngland.  The  boiler  was  made  of  copper  plates  so 
poorly  put  together  that  leaks  were  frequent,  and  they 
were  stopped  with  melted  lead.  The  fire  box  was  made 
of  masonry.  As  Fulton  stood  in  the  crowd  which  was 
assembled  to  see  the  Clcnnont  attempt  to  steam  away  on 
her  first  trip,  he  was  jeered  and  hooted  as  a  lunatic.  And 
this  was  only  a  little  o\er  a  hundred  years  ago! 

But  the  Clcrnionf  was  a  money-maker  from  the  very 
beginning  and  Fidton  soon  became  a  monopolist.  Suc- 
ceeding improvements  were  made  in  the  details  rather 
than  in  the  principles  of  the  machinery.  Steam  naviga- 
tion quickly  asserted  itself,  new  ideas  were  rapidly  de- 
veloped, and  such  craft  soon  ceased  to  be  a  novelty. 

The  Clcnnont,  driven  by  a  four  horse-power  engine, 
attained  a  speed  of  al)out  seven  miles  per  hour.  The 
cylinders  were  twenty-two  to  twenty-four  inches  in 
diameter.  Today  they  run  as  high  as  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  inches  in  diameter.  Instead  of  four  horse- 
power, the  engines  of  the  Olympic  and  Impcrator  of  today 
develop  eighty  thousand  horse-power. 


12 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


The  First  Ocean  Steamers. — It  was  a  long  step  from 
the  traffic  on  inland  waters  to  the  navigation  of  the  ocean. 
The  Savaiiiiah,  a  vessel  equipped  with  both  sails  and 
engines,  is  generally  conceded  to  l)e  the  first  steamship 
to  cross  the  ocean;  the  tri])  l)cing  made  in  iHkj,  however, 
steam  was  used  on  this  tri])  (  nly  wlien  there  was  no 
wind.     The  Royal  U'iUiam.  a  Canadian  hoat.  was  the  first 


Courtesy  Lunar d  S.S.  Co. 
\    $7,000,000     ST1-:A.\LS11  1  I' 


to  cross  the  ocean  entircl\  nnder  sieani  power,  wliirli  she 
did  in  18,^3.  Tlic  A'cyi//  U'illldiii  was  considtTcd  a  perfect 
type  of  boat  to  be  duplicated  for  decades,  but  how  soon 
l>rogress  upset  these  ideals.  She  was  one  hundred  and 
seventy-six  feet  long,  twt'nty-ninc  \vv[  fonr  inches  Ijcam 
and  seventeen  feet  nine   inches   deei).     She   was  a  side- 


OF    THE    United    States  13 

wheeler  and  required  twenty-five  days  to  make  the  trip 
across  the  Atlantic. 

Alxuit  the  3'ear  1840  inventors  began  to  experiment 
with  a  screw  propeller  as  a  substitute  for  the  cumber- 
some, expensive  and  inefficient  paddle-wheel  of  that  day. 
In  1839  such  a  ship  had  been  built  in  England,  and  had 
proven  a  success,  and  now  a  larger  vessel  with  an  iron 
hull,  the  Great  Britain,  was  constructed  and  met  every 
requirement,  until  she  was  grounded  after  three  years' 
service.  But  navigators  were  skeptical  about  the  use 
of  iron  vessels,  which  they  thought  would  destroy  the 
usefulness  of  the  compass.  The  disposition  of  iron  to 
foul  so  rapidly  was  another  objection;  however,  the  in- 
troduction and  use  of  the  floating  compass  and  anti- 
fouling  compositions  for  painting  the  hulls  soon  remedied 
these  defects,  and  with  the  construction  of  direct-acting 
engines  the  screw  propeller  became  a  great  success. 

The  greatest  improvements  in  ocean  service  are  due, 
perhaps,  to  the  development  of  the  engines.  The  com- 
pound engine  and  multiple  expansion  engine  have  been 
followed  by  the  triple  expansion  engine,  and  this  great 
mechanism  seems  now  to  be  rapidly  giving  way  to  the 
turbine  engine,  which  gives  greater  power  and  occupies 
less  space.  Iron  hulls  have  been  displaced  by  those  of 
steel,  the  screw  propeller  has  been  supplanted  by  twin, 
triple  and  quadruple  propellers  and  many  other  improve- 
ments that  a  century  ago  would  have  been  thought  im- 
possible. 

Modern  Ocean  Liners. — One  of  the  greatest  ships 
in  the  world  today  is  the  Imperator  of  the  Hamburg- 
American  Line.  This  monster  is  nine  hundred  feet  long, 
ninety  feet  wide  and  has  nine  decks  above  the  water 
line.  It  registers  50,000  tons,  with  a  displacement  of 
70,000  tons,  and  has  a  speed  of  twenty-five  knots  per 
hour. 

The  Lusitania  has  established  the  w^orld's  record 
for  speed,  crossing  the  Atlantic  in  a  trifle  over  four  and 


14 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


one-half  days,  and  no  one  knows  when  this  record  may 
be  broken.  Such  vessels  are  greater  than  some  of  the 
big-gest  things  in  the  world.  Two  of  them  are  as  long 
as  the  Brooklyn  bridge.  One  of  them  is  longer  than  the 
Auditoriimi  Hotel  and  Annex  of  Chicago,  the  largest 
hotel  in  the  world. 


^  'W',1  ai  L-r-i  -  II       •; -1     fL. 


'MlMk^li:: 


•"r-j- ■■m        1   -  ._    — 'iff. 

y\  ril  \if\  J 


^ 


^ 


E£l^ 


•j-y-  •-  ev  V     i?x 


i 


V{h'MtnMi\'Tv'^<m-tiMviWmftrMrr^S 


Courtesy  Cunard  S.S.  Co.     i 
A    PALATIAL    I'LOATING    HOTEL  ! 


OF    THE    United    States  15 

The  Imhcrator  can  carry,  with  perfect  comfort, 
over  Hve  thousand  passengers.  It  requires  a  crew  nf 
one  thousand  to  man  lier.  It  is  two  lumdred  and 
fifty  feet  longer  than  the  great  ■Marshall  Field  store  of 
Chicago.  One  could  step  from  the  U])per  deck  of  this 
vessel  into  a  nintli  story  window,  the  funnels  extending 
si.x  stories  higlier  and  tlie  masts  reaching  alxixe  the  rot  if. 

No  lintel  in  tlie  world  is  finished  with  finer  (ir  nmre 
expensive  woods  or  furnished  more  luxurinusl}'  than  are 
these  great  ships.  There  are  electric  elevators  connecting 
all  decks,  telephones  to  all  ])arts,  electric  signals  that 
warn  of  ap])roaching  danger  and  the  wireless  telegraph, 
by  which  one  can  communicate  with  any  part  of  the  earth. 
A  daily  newspaper  gives  the  guests  the  news  of  the  world 
and  a  first-class  theatre  furnishes  evening  amusement. 
There  are  regal  suites,  adorned  with  delicate  tapestries, 
open  fire-places,  and  cozy  window  corners,  wliicli  make 
one  forget  he  is  upon  the  ocean. 

Think  of  the  amount  of  provisions  necessary  for  a 
trip  of  one  of  these  great  liners!  The  meat  alone  con- 
sists of  fifty  cattle,  eighty  sheep,  one  hundred  and  hfty 
pigs,  tweh'C  calves,  sixty  lambs,  two  hundred  and  hfty 
partridges,  two  hundred  and  fifty  grouse,  eight  hundred 
(|uail,  two  hundred  snipe,  one  hundred  geese,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  turkeys,  three  hundred  and  fifty  ducks  and  two 
thousand  smaller  fowls.  There  are  also  twelve  barrels  of 
salmon,  sixty  bo.xes  of  kippers,  forty-fi\'e  boxes  of  fresh 
fish,  eighty-four  boxes  of  haddock,  and  twenty  kegs  of 
oysters. 

In  addition  to  passengers  and  proNusinns,  all  ships 
carry  thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  freight  as  "ballast," 
which  serves  the  d(iul)le  ])urpose  of  bringing  in  revenue 
and  weighting  the  sliij).  The  ent^rmous  freight  carried  on 
one  of  these  great  ocean  liners  is  sufficient  to  load  a 
freight  train  forty  miles  long.  Its  capacious  hold  will 
accommodate  over  half  a  million  bushels  of  grain,  thirty- 
five  thousand  bales  of  cotton,  twenty  thousand   tons  of 


i6 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


Courtesy  Hatnburg-Aiiur.  Line 
OCEAN     TRWEL    COMl'.lNES    ALL    COMFORTS 


metal,  or  seventy  thousand  l);incls  uf  oil.  The  hulls,  be- 
low water  line,  are  divided  into  as  many  as  one  hundred 
and  seventy-five  water-tight  compartments,  which  are 
designed  to  render  the  vessel  unsinkable.  .  This  is  an  age 
of  wonderful  progress,  and  it  seems  that  perfection  in 
steamboat  service  has  nearly  been  attained. 

The  greatest  steamships  are  owned  and  oj^erated  by 
German  and  English  companies.    I'hese  governments  use 


OF    THE    United    States  17 

every  effort  to  encourage  this  industry,  by  granting  sub- 
sidies and  by  other  methods.  On  account  of  this,  and 
also  from  the  fact  that  every  other  nation  can  man  its 
ships  at  a  lower  average  wage  than  is  possible  in  this 
country,  the  United  States  cannot  successfully  compete 
with  other  countries.  Most  of  the  steamship  lines  on  the 
Pacific  are  controlled  by  Japanese  companies. 

National  governments  aid  navigation  further  by  re- 
m(i\  ing  obstacles  to  the  entrance  of  harbors,  construct- 
ing piers,  maintaining  lighthouses  and  other  signals  to 
mark  dangerous  places.  They  also  establish  regulations 
tliat  must  be  complied  with  by  all  ocean-going  vessels 
when  within  three  miles  of  shore,  so  that  none  are  in 
danger  l^y  running  at  a  high  rate  of  speed  in  narrow  and 
dangerous  channels.  All  vessels  are  taken  in  and  out 
of  port  by  licensed  pilots  who,  having  spent  many  years 
familiarizing  themselves  with  the  harbor,  are  able  to 
guide  the  vessels  safely  over  natural  obstructions  as  well 
as  over  the  mines  and  other  fortifications  placed  there 
b}-  tlic  War  l)ei)artment.  The  immense  size  of  the  ves- 
sels l)uih  within  the  past  few  years  has  made  it  neces- 
sary to  reconstruct  the  harl)ors  at  an  enormous  cost.  In 
the  past  ten  years  the  ocean  liner  has  lea])ed  from  20,000 
to  50,000  tons  and  there  is  a  possibility  that  the  100,000 
ton  ship  may  yet  come. 

FOR  RESEARCH 

1.  How  much  time  was  re(|uircd  for  the  fleet  of 
Columbus  to  cross  the  ocean?  How  mucli  time  is  now 
recjuired? 

2.  What  was  the  "Embargo"  Act?  The  "Non- 
intercourse"  Acts? 

3.  What  is  a  Marconigram?  How  may  a  ship  be 
located  while  at  sea? 

4.  W'hat  is  meant  by  first,  second  and  third-class 
passage?    What  is  steerage? 


i8  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

5.  Discuss:  Square  rigg-ing-.  Fore  and  aft  rigging. 
A  clipper.     A  schooner.     A  tender.     A  tug. 

6.  Why  do  steamships  coming  to  this  country  stop 
at  cpiarantine?  Tlirough  what  processes  must  emigrants 
[)ass  ? 

7.  In  what  respect  do  recijirocating  engines  (Hffer 
from  turlMues?  ATake  a  diagram  ilhistrating  the  i)rinciple 
of  double,  triple  and  (juadruple  expansion  as  applied  to 
engines. 

8.  Describe  and  illustrate  the  new  ocean  routes  es- 
tablished by  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal. 

9.  Show^  the  route  of  a  cargo  from  Manila  to  Ham- 
burg. PVom  Constantinople  to  San  Francisco.  From 
Ceylon  to  New  York. 

10.  What  is  a  port  of  entry?  To  what  extent  do  the 
Customs  officials  examine  goods  entering  this  country? 

11.  W  liat  was  the  cause  of  the  Titanic  disaster? 
What  did  shipl)uilders  learn   fri  nn  it? 

12.  Obtain,  from  the  nearest  offices  of  the  prin- 
cipal steamship  companies,  folders  showing  the  routes 
traversed  by  their  lines.  Also  obtain  an  assortment  of 
illustrated  literature. 


OF    THE    United    States 


19 


CHAPTER    IT  I 

THE   COMMERCE   OF   OUR 
INLAND   SEAS 

Our  Lake  Ports. — Those  who  have  not  traveled 
u])on  the  Great  Lakes  or  visited  some  of  their  principal 
recei\ing-  and  distributing  docks,  many  of  them  a  mile 


J'/iutogruph   by  L.    C.  Riismiscl 

dl'lutji   harbor  and  aerial  bridge 

or  so  from  the  general  harjjor,  liave  no  idea  of  the 
great  shipping  interests  on  the  (ireat  Lakes,  where 
there  are  immense  ore  docks,  beside  which  thirty  steam- 
ers may  load  at  a  time.  They  ha\e  no  conception  of 
tlie  big  tank  elevators  holding  as  high  as  seven  million 
bushels  of  wheat  each,  of  the  great  warehouses  filled 
with  valuable  merchandise,  of  the  heaped-up  coal  j^ards 
and  the  incessant  coining  and  going  of  the  huge  freight- 
ers which  carry   this  produce  where  railroads  may  dis- 


20  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

tribute  it  to  mills,  smelters  and  inland  towns.  A  long 
water  haul  is  so  much  cheaper  than  a  rail  haul  that  the 
ability  to  ship  large  cargoes  direct  from  Lake  Superior 
ports  eight  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  miles,  or  even 
across  the  seas,  has  transformed  the  United  States  and 
changed  her  position  among  the  nations. 

Transportation  Facilities  of  the  Lakes.  —  AVheat, 
coming  from  Canada,  the  Dakotas  and  Minnesota,  finds 
its  way  to  Duluth,  Superior,  Milwaukee  and  Chicago. 
Practically  all  of  our  corn  is  shipped  from  Chicago.  From 
these  ports  these  grains  are  shipped  by  boat  to  Liver- 
pool. The  lumber  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin  and  Minne- 
sota, as  well  as  much  from  Oregon  and  Washington, 
passes  through  the  lakes.  The  copper  of  Michigan  is 
usable  for  results  not  attempted  with  the  product  of  other 
mines.  Before  the  lake  movement  began  the  iron  in- 
dustry was  having  a  fierce  struggle  for  existence  with 
the  lean  Pennsylvania  ores.  Now,  after  transferring  the 
rirli  .Superior  ores,  we  can  undersell  every  other  country, 
and  our  iron  industry  is  the  key  to  the  commercial  su- 
premacy of  the  world.  There  is  nothing  bigger  in  the 
history  of  civih'zation  than  the  "Soo"  Canal,  which  con- 
nects Lakes  Superior  and  Huron  and  makes  possible  this 
and  countless  other  lienelits  to  mankind. 

Facilities  for  Handling  Freight. — A  freight  system 
adec|uate  to  meet  these  condition^  lias  become  a  neces- 
sity. It  is  so  masterful  and  supreme  as  to  almost  l)alfie 
descriptioiL  Imagine  a  steel  boat,  four  to  six  hundred 
feet  long,  with  six  to  twelve  thousand  tons  capacity, 
steaming  up  to  an  elevator.  Her  hatches  are  opened  by 
machinery  before  she  stops,  and  immediately  the  grain 
descends  from  bins  above,  which  are  constantly  being 
refilled  by  incoming  trains.  The  process  of  transferring 
grain  from  farm  to  elevator,  elevator  to  boat,  and  from 
the  boat  to  receiving  elevator,  at  the  other  end  of  the 
hikes,  has  been  reduced  to  a  science. 


OF    THE    United    States 


21 


Ore  Shipment  on  the  Great  Lakes. — An  even  greater 
wonder  is  the  shipment  of  ore  on  the  lakes.  A  fleet  of 
boats,  each  longer  than  a  city  block,  is  continually  carry- 
ing ore  to  receiving  ports  and  returning  at  once  to  the 
North  to  reload.  A  boat  holding  ten  thousand  tons  has 
been  loaded  in  eighty  minutes  and  unloaded  in  two  hours, 
by  means  of  machinery  which  is  manipulated  by  one  man. 
Machinery  lifts  the  ore,  dumps  it  on  immense  ore  docks, 
sends  it  from  big  pockets  down  into  the  boat,  scoops  it 


1 


■■'■iMiiV, 


'ninth  Cliamber  of  Commerce 
A    LAKE    I'KEIGHTEK     I'KEl'ARING     TO     LOAD 


out  of  the  hold,  loads  it  on  cars,  and  transfers  it  to  the 
smelter,  where  the  work  is  finished.  Some  of  these  ore 
boats  are  605  feet  long,  58  feet  wide  and  32  feet  deep, 
and  such  a  boat  can  be  manned  by  twenty  men.  One 
company  alone  owns  boats  that  have  taken  ten  million 
tons  of  ore  down  the  lakes  in  one  year.  It  seems  in- 
credible that,  in  a  little  less  than  four  days  after  loading 
at  Duluth,  these  great  steel  boats  may  be  found  unload- 


2.2  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

ing-  eight  hundred  miles  away,  'i'liis  moving  is  at  the 
rate  of  about  eleven  miles  an  hour,  almost  as  fast  as  the 
lake  passenger  steamships. 

A  Lake  Freighter.  —  These  boats  are  unlike  any 
others  in  the  world.  They  look  like  from  four  to  six 
hundred  feet  of  steel  trough  with  a  lid  on,  at  one  end  a 
steel  house,  at  the  other  a  smokestack  and  row  of  cabins, 
and  between  them  a  clear  stretch  of  deck  almost  a  l)lock 
long.  They  are  a  triumph  of  American  ingenuity,  and 
can  handle  more  cargo  in  less  time  than  any  other  trans- 
portation device  ever  made. 

Passenger  Service  on  the  Great  Lakes. — Little  less 
wonderful  is  the  passenger  service.  Each  year  over  six- 
teen million  passengers  are  carried  on  the  Great  Lakes. 
Many  of  the  passenger  steamers  are  rivaled  only  l)y  those 
upon  the  oceans.  Some  of  them  have  h\e  hundred  state- 
rooms and  are  equi])ped  with  telephones,  running  water, 
grate  fires,  electric  ele\ators,  wireless  telegraph,  washed- 
air  ventilation,  private  dining  rooms,  convention  halls, 
Venetian  gardens,  and  every  modern  convenience. 

Passenger  travel  on  the  Great  Lakes  costs  less  per 
mile  than  on  any  other  highway  in  the  world.  The 
thousand-mile  trip  from  Buffalo  to  Duluth.  on  one  uf  the 
linest  passenger  steamers  e\-er  built  for  use  n])(>n  fresh 
water,  is  an  ideal  one.  One  may  board  a  steamer  at  r.uf- 
falo,  cross  Lake  Erie  to  Cleveland,  spend  a  day  of  pleas- 
ure there,  take  u]^  the  journey  again  by  1)oat  and  go  to 
l^elrdil,  in  many  \\a\s  the  most  remarkable  cit\  on  the 
continent,  sail  u])  the  ri\er  and  Lake  TTuron,  then  thnnigh 
the  canal  at  the  ".'^iki,"  go  on  thr(iugli  Lai\e  .*>nperi(ir  to 
pictui-es(|uc  huhilh.  Tlieii  rctui'n  b\  \\a\  o|'  Lake  Micli- 
igan  to  Chicago,  the  t'ood  market  of  the  world,  and  con- 
tinue the  journey  all  the  way  by  bo.it  to  the  starting 
point  at  r.iilTalii,  al"t(.'r  liaxiiig  >aiK'(l  iii(ir(,'  niik'N  than 
would  be  covered  in  crossing  the  ocean,  and  tor  one- 
thirfl  ol  the  expense.  All  of  the  acconnno<lation>  on 
board  are  in  e\'er\    wav  eciual  to  those  of  the  ocean  liner. 


OF    THE    United    States  23 

The  "Soo"  Canal. — The  commerce  of  the  lakes  may 
be  viewed  at  its  best  at  the  locks  of  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie 
(Rapids  of  St.  Alary's )  or  "Soo"  Canal,  the  greatest 
throat  of  commerce  nn  eartli.  Suez,  the  ungated  high- 
way to  nations  that  were  old  l)efore  the  dawn  of  history, 
cannot  claim  a  traffic  equal  to  one-fifth  of  it.  Here  may 
be  seen  a  great  wonder  of  the  world  which  has  been 
wrought  by  human  hands.  The  combined  tonnage  of 
New  York,  Li\erpool  and  Hamburg  w'ould  not  equal  that 


Pohl  Printing  Co.,  Detroit,  Mich. 

CGMPARATINE    LENGTH     OF     LAKE     FREIGHTER     AND     NATIONAL 

CAPITOL 


which  passes  through  this  canal  during  the  eight  months 
it  is  possible  for  vessels  to  operate.  On  the  average  a 
great  steamer  passes  through  the  locks  every  fifteen 
minutes,   night  and   day. 

Only  fifty  years  have  elapsed  since  the  opening  of 
the  first  canal  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie.  Then  wise  Americans 
considered  the  expenditure  as  extravagant  and  visionary 
beyond  words.  The  discovery  of  ore  on  the  shore  of 
Lake  Superior  was  the  principal  factor  which  led  to  its 
establishment.  Learned  engineers  decided  that  a  lock 
three   hundred   and   fifty   feet   long  w^ould   accommodate 


24 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


the  largest  vessels  ever  possible  to  navigate  those  waters. 
In  1870  it  was  torn  out  and  two  others  built,  the  longest 
five  hundred  and  fifteen  feet  long,  but  these  soon  became 
inadequate  and  in  1896  the  Poe  Lock  was  completed,  at 
a  cost  of  five  million  dollars.  It  is  eight  hundred  feet 
long  and  is  one  of  the  greatest  artificial  chambers  in  the 
world,  originally  intended  to  accommodate  four  vessels 
at  once,  yet  today  it  accommodates  only  one.  The 
smaller  vessels  are  accommodated  by  the  Weitzel  Lock, 
\vhich  was  built  beside  the  Poe   Lock,  and  also  bv  the 


TlI 


Courtesy  D.  &  C.  SS.  Line 
T.ARCKST    STF..\^rnO.\T    O!--    Till'.     LAKES 


(."anadian  Lock  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  The  I'ed- 
eral  Government  has  allowed  its  ocean  merchant  marine 
to  languish  and  die,  but  it  has  spent  over  fifty  million 
dollars  in  deepening  channels  and  building  canals  be- 
tween the  Great  Lakes. 

To  comprehend  this  great  industry  best,  watch  one  of 
these  great  vessels  steam  from  the  canal  into  the  cradline 
basin  of  masonry.  In  length,  nine  of  her  would  measure 
a  mile,  the  length  of  the  canal.  She  is  loaded  with  ten 
thousand  tons  of  ore,  which  was  poured  into  her  hold 


OF    THE    United    States  25 

at  the  Duluth  docks  like  a  dusty  avalanche,  and  the  steel 
mills  at  Pittsburgh  are  anxious  for  this  great  cargo  which 
is  waiting  to  be  lowered,  with  the  ship  that  contains  it, 
twenty-two  feet  to  the  water  level  below.  A  few  men 
]nish  levers  that  set  engines  to  work  and  the  massive 
gate  closes  behind  the  vessel.  Powerful  pumps  begin 
their  toil  and  the  vessel  commences  to  drop,  foot  by  foot, 
until,  in  a  few  minutes,  she  rides  out  into  the  channel  on 
the  other  side.  All  day  long,  and  through  the  night,  on 
the  average  one  hundred  and  fifty  of  these  great  cargo- 
carriers  are  raised  and  lowered  every  day,  with  no  more 
hurry  than  the  operation  of  an  elevator  in  an  office 
l)uilding. 

Once  through  the  lock,  the  steamer  moves  on  her 
course  to  her  distant  dock,  there  to  be  unloaded  by  an- 
other handful  of  men,  who  manipulate  machines  which 
set  to  work  the  strength  of  thousands  of  men,  focused 
in  steam  and  electric  power.  On  a  magnificent  scale, 
invention  and  organization  have  worked  to  reduce  the 
cost  of  the  product  of  the  mine,  the  farm  and  forest.  Not 
more  than  fifty  men  are  required  to  handle  ten  thousand 
tons  of  ore  through  all  its  stages  of  transportation.  Forty 
years  ago  the  freight  rate  from  Marquette  to  Ohio  ports 
was  from  three  to  six  dollars  per  ton.  Today  it  averages 
seventy-five  cents  per  ton  from  any  of  the  Lake  Superior 
ports. 

The  Great  Lakes. — A  few  condensed  facts  regard- 
ing the  Great  Lakes  may  be  interesting.  Altogether 
they  have  an  area  of  one  hundred  thousand  square  miles. 
The  eight  states  that  l:)order  them  contain  more  than  one- 
third  of  the  population  of  North  America.  There  are 
over  fifteen  hundred  vessels  on  the  lakes  and  approxi- 
mately one  million  people  are  employed  in  the  traffic. 
Three  millions  of  tons  of  coal  are  consumed  by  these 
steamers  each  year,  the  sailing  vessels  being  practically 
obsolete. 

The  fisheries  of  the  Great  Lakes  are  the  most  valu- 


26  iNDUSTRTAT-CoMMF.RriAL     GEOGRAPHY 

able  in  the  world.  Last  year  (1913)  there  passed  through 
the  "Soo"  Canal:  57,895,145  tons  of  freight  of  all  classes; 
40,014,978  tons  of  iron  ore;  127,212  tons  of  copper;  9,940,- 
026  tons  of  coal;  113,253,561  bushels  of  wheat;  47,512,863 
bushels  of  other  grains  and  7,088,865  barrels  of  Hour. 

A  cargo  of  coi)per  ingots  wortli  $1,020,000  and  a 
cargo  (if  flax  worth  $504,000  were  the  most  valuable 
single  shipments.  The  Heet  of  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation,  numl)ering  tio  vessels,  the  largest  commer- 
cial navy  on  the  lakes,  can  move  648,000  tons  per  trip, 
equal  to  a  loaded  train  120  miles  long.  The  lakes  mean 
more  to  the  American  people  than  do  all  the  oceans. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  What  relation  exists  between  the  Great  Lakes 
and  the  Iron.  Coal  and   Wheal    Industries? 

2.  Why  is  a  canal  being  constructed  from  i'ilts- 
burgh  to  Lake  F.rie? 

3.  What  is  the  principle  of  a  \<^ck  canal?  Make  a 
diagram  illustrating  it. 

4.  Discuss  the  difference  between  side-wheel  steam- 
ships and  screw-propellers.  Iloth  metliods  are  used  by 
the  largest  steamships  on  the  ( Ireal   Lakes.     Wliv? 

5.  WluMi  dues  the  season  for  lake  na\igatii>n  ojien 
and  close?  W  hat  risks  does  a  boat  run  l)y  sailing  after 
the  season  has  officially  closed? 

6.  Does  the  Xa\y  Departmenl  ha\e  an\  boats  on 
the  Great    Lakes?     Why? 

7.  W  here  nw  train  ferries  o])eratcd  upon  the  lakes? 

8.  What  has  the  National  Government  done  to 
safeguard  traftnr  on  the  Great  Lakes?  What  are  the 
principal  re(|uirenieuls  exacted  by  the  conditions  of  a 
steamship  license? 


OF    THE    United    States  27 

9.  For  what  are  these  hike  ])(>rts  noted?  Duluth? 
Fort  WilHam?  Ashland?  Superior?  Two  Harbors? 
Milwaukee?  Houghton?  Chicago?  Detroit?  Cleve- 
land?    Buffalo? 

10.  Write  one  hundred  words  covering  the  principal 
features  of  the  "Soo"  Canal. 

11.  What  great  industries  are  made  possible  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie  on  account  of  the  water  power? 


28  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    IV 

FOUR  GREAT  CANALS 

Kver  since  the  earth  has  l^een  iiihal)ited,  man  has 
been  busy  making  over  its  face  to  suit  his  varying  re- 
quirements. Mountains  which  have  stood  in  his  way 
have  been  tunneled  m-  removed,  rivers  bridged  and 
oceans  joined  by  artiiicial  waterways.  All  of  this  has 
been  done  in  the  interest  of  commerce.  Even  where  the 
immediate  motive  has  been  military  advantage  the  im- 
pelling cause  has  been  the  consideration  of  profitable 
trade.  One  hundred  and  fifty  years  before  the  Christian 
era  there  was  a  primiti\e  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Suez.  In  China  canals  have  existed  from  the  earliest 
ages,  and  Egypt  was  intersected  with  them.  However, 
the  world's  canals  of  ante-railroad  days  and  the  vast  ship 
canals  of  the  present,  are  very  different  undL-rtakings. 
From  the  old  Erie  Canal  to  the  Panama  represents  a 
whole  era  of  the  world's  commercial  history. 

The  Erie  Canal,  connecting  the  Great  Eakes  with 
the  Hudson  Rixer,  was  ci)nii)lcted  in  iS-'5  at  a  cost  of 
sixty-two  million  dollars.  It  is  ^C)^  miles  long  and  was 
the  greatest  industrial  cntcrjirisc  of  its  day.  Water 
transportation  o\cr  this  route  has  been,  from  the  earliest 
days,  the  key  to  the  commerce  of  the  Northwest,  as  it 
brought  to  the  port  of  Xcw  York  the  i)roducts  of  the 
irreat  central  t-ranarw  As  this  canal  antedates  railwav 
transportation  in  this  country  it  was  of  immense  value  in 
its  earlier  days,  but  later  it  failed  to  secure  the  business 
it  should  have  on  account  of  railroad  compclition  and  also 
frdUi  the  fact  that  it  was  not  large  enough  to  accommo- 
date the  Ixiat^-  that  traverse  the  Great  Lakes,  thus  all 
of  its  freight  had  to  be  transferred  to  smaller  boats. 


OF    THE    United    States 


29 


Grain,  iron  ore,  lumber  and  coal  comprise  90  per  cent. 
of  the  freight  of  the  lakes,  and  as  the  time  element  is  not 
important  in  the  transportation  of  these  commodities 
they  can  be  satisfactorily  handled  by  water  at  a  lower 
cost,  where  facilities  are  suitable.  This  has  induced  the 
New  York  Legislature  to  authorize  the  expenditure  of 
enough  money  to  enlarge  the  old  Erie  Canal  sufficiently 
to  accommodate  a  i,ooo-ton  barge  and  it  is  expected  that, 
upon  completion,  its  business  will  be  largely  revived. 

The  St.  Mary's  Falls  Canal,  The  "Soo."— The  great- 
est artery  of  commerce  in  the  world  is  the  canal  which 
connects  Lakes  Superior  and  Huron,  although  it  is 
scarcely  a  mile   in   length.     The   total   tonnage   passing 


THE    route    of    the    ERIE    CANAL 

through  this  canal  during  the  open  season  of  less  than 
eight  months  is  greater  than  tjie  combined  tonnage  of 
coastwise  clearances  of  England,  France  and  Germany. 
There  is  nothing  like  it  in  the  world.  Its  commerce, 
consisting  principally  of  iron  ore,  lumber,  grain  and  coal, 
is  more  than  five  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  Suez  Canal. 
It  is  five  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  foreign  tonnage 
of  New  York  harbor  and  greater  than  the  combined  ton- 
nage of  Liverpool,  London  and  Hamburg. 

There  are  two  locks  there.  The  Wcitscl  Lock  is  five 
hundred  and  fifteen  feet  long,  and  eighty  feet  wide,  nar- 
rowing to  sixty  feet  at  the  gates.  It  has  a  depth  of  thirty- 
nine  and  one-half  feet.  The  lift  of  the  lock  is  eighteen 
feet. 


30 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


The  l\>c  Lock  is  eight  hundred  feet  long,  uniformly 
one  hundred  feet  wide  and  twenty-one  feet  deep,  with  a 
lift  of  eighteen  feet.  It  was  built  to  accommodate  four 
vessels  at  one  time;  l)y  the  time  it  was  finished  in  1896 
it  could  take  onl}-  two,  and  today  one  of  the  largest  ore 
carriers  will  almost  fill  it.  Its  total  cost  was  five  million 
dollars.  It  is  the  largest  single  artificial  cliamber  in  the 
world.  This  canal  is  owned  and  operated  l)y  the  United 
States  Government.  The  service  is  free.  A  smaller  canal 
is  operated  by  the  Canadian  Government  on  the  north 
side  of  the  St.  Alary's  River. 


THE  SAUr/r  STE.   -NLXUll-:  -'SOO"  -CAXAL 


The  Suez  Canal. — The  great  Suez  Canal,  as  it  stands 

today,  was  buih  by  the  I'rcnch  (ioxcrnmcnt.  It  connects 
the  Red  Sea  with  ihe  Mediterranean.  It  was  completed 
in  iSfx;  and  is  onr  hundred  miles  long,  i'i  which  sc\fnt\'- 
-six  miles  is  actual  canal  and  twenty-four  miles  is  canal- 
ized lakes.  As  enlarged  in  iS*/)  it  is  over  three  hundred 
feet  wide  at  the  top,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  at 
the  bottom  with  a  niininnnu  depth  of  twcntv-seven  feet 
ten  inches.  W  hile  it--  total  cost  was  $120,000,000,  during 
the  past  ten  years  the  receipts  from  sliiiiping  ])assing 
throuuh    it    hax'e   been    abont    twice    this    amount.      The 


OF    THE    United    States  31 

greatest  difficulty  experienced  while  building  it  was  the 
interference  of  the  I'.ritish  (lOvernmcnt,  Avhich  c\"entiiallv 
assumed  cimtrol  ui  it. 

About  thirteen  hours  are  recjuired  to  pass  through 
the  canal  by  ordinary  steamer.  As  it  is  well  lighted,  it 
is  in  use  l)y  night  as  well  as  by  dav. 

The  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal  was  a  severe  blow  to 
the  waning  commercial  ini])ortance  of  the  city  of  Alex- 
andria, which  for  centuries  had  enjoyed  the  overland 
trade  between  Europe  and  the  h^ast  Indies.  While  it  is 
open  to  all  the  world,  in  time  of  war  neither  the  canal 
or  its  terminals  can  be  made  a  base  of  operations  l^y  any 
nation. 

It  is  in  the  trade  with  India,  China  and  Australia 
that  the  Suez  Canal  is  chicti}-  \aluable.  It  saves  5,500 
miles  in  the  voyage  between  London  and  Ijombay  and 
4,100  miles  l)etween  London  and  Mong-Kong.  Sailing 
vessels  and  steamers  trading  \vith  New  Zealand  hnd  it 
more  economical  to  save  tolls  ])y  making  the  longer  voy- 
age around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  and  returning  by 
way  of  Cape  Horn.  About  4,000  ships  annually  pass 
through  this  canal,  with  a  tonnage  of  about  10,000,000 
tons,  or  about  the  same  as  that  of  New  York  Harbor. 
The  building  of  the  canal  was  a  triumph  of  organization 
which  up  to  that  time  had  no  parallel  in  engineering  his- 
tory. At  times  as  many  as  30,000  laborers  were  employed 
and  sanitary  and  medical  services,  schools,  boarding- 
houses,  banks,  asylums  and  other  adjuncts  of  a  perma- 
nent community  had  to  be  provided  by  the  construction 
company,  as  is  the  case  at  the  i)rescnt  time  in  the  Lanama 
Canal  Zone. 

The  Panama  Canal. — It  has  been  the  peculiar  fate 
of  I'^rench  foreign  canal  building,  as  in  French  cohuiizing, 
that  much  of  what  has  been  done  by  the  l<"rench  has  gone 
to  benefit  other  nations.  For  example,  New  France  long 
ago  became  a  part  of  the  British  FZmpire.  The  Suez 
Canal    is   now    largely   owned   and   administered    by   the 


32 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


British  and  the  beginnings  made  by  the  French  at  Pana- 
ma have  been  continned  by  the  United  States.  While 
the  most  ingenious  machinery  known  was  used  in  the 
construction  of  the  Suez  Canal,  the  same  machinery, 
perfected  by  years  of  experience,  was  found  utterly 
worthless  at  Panama  on  account  of  changed  conditions  in 
tiie  soil. 

For    four    hundred    years    everybody    interested    in 


iiilA-.     ■    ■     V^ 


r-      r,-  .  >-"K.  '»| 


,^^ 


vm':&c^-^K.^ 


^-,'.-- 


u^.. 


I't  St  rvnir  ?  !. 

■    ...... iS    •■ 


r,  (.         ./ 

!,-      .1  I,  : 


Vacsuiontv  It.  ^TvkTuf  I. 


THE    TAN AM A    CANAL    ZONE 


commerce  has  dreamed  of  the  day  when  ships  can  pass 
from  tlie  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  without  making  the  long 
journey  around  South  America,  and  this  the  I""rench  at- 
tempted to  do  l)\-  digging  a  canal  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama,  but  after  seven  years'  trial  they  gave  uj)  the 
project,  afterwards  selling  their  rights  to  the  United 
States  Ciovcrnment.  wliirh  l)egan  (jperations  in  1004, 
cotnplcling  the  work  in   i<)i  |.      I  "he  i)rojcct  was  similar  to 


OF    THE    United    States 


33 


that  ()f  the  Suez  enterprise  in  many  ways.  Forty  thou- 
sand men  were  constantly  employed,  for  the  care  of 
whom  the  Government  had  to  provide  by  building  houses, 
schools  and  hospitals.  The  total  cost  has  been  very  close 
to  $400,000,000. 

The  canal  is  fifty  miles  long  and  it  requires  thirteen 
hours  for  a  vessel  to  pass  through  it.  It  is  a  lock  canal 
with  dams  and  embankments  as  well  as  excavations.  On 
the  Athintic  side  the  sea  level  entrance  channel  is  seven 


te^*^?:^^ 


I'OLKS    AT    COLON— PACIFIC    TKUMINUS,    PANAMA    CANAL 


miles  lung  and  fi\e  hundred  feet  wide  up  to  the  (iatun 
lock.  .\t  Gatun  an  eighty-foot  lake  level  is  ol)tained  by 
a  great  dam.  Vessels  pass  from  sea  level  to  lake  level 
by  a  series  of  three  adjoining  locks,  each  with  a  lift  of 
tw^enty-eight  feet.  The  lake  has  an  area  of  164  scjuare 
miles,  and  on  the  Pacific  side,  thirty-two  miles  away,  is 
confined  by  a  smaller  dam  at  which  there  is  a  lift  with 
duplicate  locks,  letting  vessels  down  into  a  smaller  lake 
that  is  fifty-five  feet  above  the  level  of  the  Pacific.  At 
the  other  end  of  this  lake  are  the  Mirafiores  locks,  where, 
by  two  lifts  by  duplicate  locks,  vessels  will  reach  sea- 
level  on  the  Pacific  side.  Here  is  l)eing  constructed  one 
f  the  largest  and  most  completely  equipped  harbors  in 


() 


the  world. 


34  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

Commercial  Importance  of  the  Panama  Canal. — One 

of  our  swiftest  steamers  would  require  over  a  month 
to  make  the  trip  from  New^  York  to  San  Francisco 
by  going-  around  Cape  Horn.  By  igoing-  throug-h  the 
Panama  Canal  the  trip  can  be  made  in  twelve  days, 
or  less.  Of  course,  the  completion  of  the  canal  should 
mean  cheaper  freights  and  the  effect  upon  the  people  of 
this  country  should  be  very  marked.  To  the  South,  New 
Orleans  and  Galveston  will  be  near  enough  to  become 
ports  of  the  greatest  importance,  as  they  are  the  natural 
outlets  for  the  Mississippi  valley,  the  greatest  agricul- 
tural region  in  the  world.  Therefore,  the  cereals,  sugar, 
cotton,  turpentine,  lumber,  and  machinery,  stoves  and 
other  manufactured  articles  of  the  North  will  pass 
through  these  ports  and  the  canal  to  the  South  American 
and  Asiatic  markets. 

The  South  American  countries  want  our  machinery, 
iron  and  steel,  and  many  other  things  which,  before  the 
construction  of  the  canal,  they  could  only  obtain  after 
having  them  shipped  across  this  continent  by  rail  to 
California  ports.  An  all-water  route  will  so  cheapen  these 
articles  that  the  sale  will  be  immensely  greater. 

Again,  the  South  American  countries  are  rich  in 
resources  yet  practically  undeveloped.  The  nation  that 
gets  in  closest  touch  with  them  will  secure  that  trade 
and  profit  by  their  rise  in  commercial  importance. 
It  is  possible  that  this  country  may  become  the  leading 
market  of  the  world  for  hides  and  leather,  tin,  nitrates, 
cocoa,  vanilla,  rubber  and  many  other  things  which  now^ 
pass  through  some  other  country  to  which  we  ])ay 
tribute. 

It  may  be  comi)Utcd  that  the  sailing  distance  from 
New  York  to  almost  any  Oriental  port  wdll  be  reduced 
by  half,  which  slioiild  mean  a  great  saving  in  anything 
w-e  have  to  buy  fnun  there,  and  a  greater  demand  for 
what  we  have  to  sell  to  them.  When  vessels  have  only 
half  as  far  to  travel  they  can  make  twice  as  many  trips  and 


OF    THE    United    States 


35 


more  j^rofit  for  their  owners.  Conse([ueiitly  when  they 
bring  more  of  their  foreign  products  to  us  at  a  cheaper 
price,  they  will  also  carry  away  our  steel  rails  and  l)uild- 
ing  iron,  engines,  harvesters,  canned  foods  and  manu- 
factured articles.  So  we  will  buy  more  cheaply  from 
them  and  sell  them  greater  quantities,  for  a  ship  that 
brings  a  load  must  carry  something  back  in  return. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  How  were  boats  propelled  through  canals  before 
the  use  of  steam  jxiwer  was  applied? 

2.  Does  the  United  States  own  the  Panama  Canal 
zone?     How  is  it  ccmtrolled? 

3.  Why  was  the  W'elland  Canal  constructed?  The 
Chicago  Sanitary  canal? 

4.  What  canal  connects  the  North  Sea  with  the 
IJaltic?  \\'hat  is  its  pur])(ise?  Where  is  the  Manchester 
Ship  Canal? 

5.  Make  a  diagram  illustrating  the  location  of  the 
Suez  Canal,  showing  how  it  changed  the  commerce  of 
the  world.  Illustrate  on  this  map  the  route  taken  by 
Vasco  da  Gama  in   1497. 

6.  How  could  the  famous  trip  of  the  Battleship 
Oregon,  during  the  Spanish-American  ^^''ar,  have  been 
shortened  had  the  Panama  Canal  been  in  existence  at  that 
time?'     Illustrate. 

7.  What  ad\antages  will  the  I^inama  Canal  give 
California  and  ntlier  Western   States? 

8.  How  does  the  United  States  compare  with  other 
I  countries,  in  respect  to  the  niunber  of  canals  and  im- 
I  portance  of  its  canal  system? 

9.  What  canal  is  used  by  boats  to  get  around 
Niagara  Falls?  Is  it  upon  the  American  or  Canadian 
side? 


36  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    V 

WATERING  THE  WASTE  PLACES 

*?>.  We  hear  a  great  deal  about  the  natural  resources  of 

this  country,  which  we  generally  think  of  as  being  tim- 
ber, iron,  coal,  gold,  silver,  stone  and  petroleum.  How- 
ever, the  greatest  of  all  natural  resources  is  water,  for, 


U.  S.  Rctiaiiuiih  n  .^rr.icc 

THE  "GREAT  AMERICAN  DESERT" 

without  it  in  abundance,  all  the  other  resources  would 
amount  to  nothing;  famine  would  take  the  place  of  plenty 
and  all  our  prosperity  would  vanish.  In  order  to  make 
the  water  supply  absolutely  certain,  all  countries  have 
always  resorted  to  irrigation. 

The  Value  of  Irrigation. — Hie  rainless  lands  that 
cradled  the  human  race  were  made  ])roductive  by  irri- 
gation. Over  four  thousand  years  ago  the  vast  region 
dominated  by  the  liabylonian  kings  was  a  network  of 
reservoirs,   canals   and   laterals.     The    skill    and    science 


OF    THE    United    States 


0/ 


displayed  in  the  building  of  ditches,  dams  and  reservoirs, 
and  in  the  use  and  distribution  of  water,  causes  the  mod- 
ern irrigator  to  marvel  and  gather  wisdom.  Irrigation 
was  in  use  when  recorded  history  began. 

Trace  agriculture  to  its  source,  and  3'ou  will  find  it 
began  in  an  irrigation  ditch.  Irrigation  demands  and 
develops  the  highest  degree  of  intelligence,  for  it  re- 
quires labor,  calculation  and  genius.  If  we  read  the  his- 
tory of  the  mighty  and  mysterious  ruins  that  litter  the 


L\  S.  Rccla  nation  Service 
U.     S.     RECLAMATIOX     I'KO.IKCTS 


]jaths  uf  the  early  world  empires,  we  find  that  all  were 
located  in  arid  lands.  The  restored  and  re-built  canal 
in  Egypt,  which  cost  England  two  and  one-half  million 
dollars,  will  water  four  million  acres.  English  capital 
has  irrigated  twenty-six  million  acres  in  India,  and  has 
saved  millions  of  people  from  starvation  ;  however,  the 
beneficiaries  are  paying  a  tax  of  thirty  per  cent,  upon  the 
investment.  The  richest  part  of  Italy  is  her  three  million 
acres  of  irrigated  land. 


38  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

Irrigation  is  not  new  in  the  Western  Hemisphere. 
Cortez  found  it  prevaihng-  in  Mexico  and  Central  Amer- 
ica, and  Pizarro  was  amazed  at  tlie  massive  work  on 
the  reservoirs  and  canals  in  Peru.  The  long  tunnels, 
which  carried  rivers  under  mountains  to  distant  fertile 
valleys,  amazed  him  most.  Arizona  and  New  Mexico 
are  gridironed  with  the  tracks  of  ancient  irrigation 
canals,  unused  for  centuries.  Their  cliffs  are  honev- 
combed  with  rock-drilled  and  built  habitations  of  a 
vanished  race.  r>ut  a  few  scattered  thousands  now  exist 
where  millions  may  have  flourished  by  the  arts  of  irri- 
gation. In  California,  about  one  hundred  and  forty  years 
ago,  the  Franciscan  friars  induced  the  Indians  to  l)uild 
irrigation  ditches  leading  to  their  many  missions. 

The  first  modern  scientific  irrigation  project  in 
North  x\merica  was  done  bv  the  Mormons  about  forty 
years  ago.  The  next  cooperative  system  was  at  Greeley, 
Colorado,  and  tlie  success  of  these  experiments  led  to 
many  similar  ventures.  The  certainty  of  results  incited 
great  interest  and  activity,  and  a  new  agricultural  age 
began.  The  fruits,  the  wonderful  crops,  and  the  hunger 
for  homes,  have  captured  the  imagination  of  the  Amer- 
ican people. 

The  United  States  Government  has  been  awakened 
to  the  importance  of  irrigation,  and  millions  are  being 
given  to  build  reservoirs  and  conserve  our  water  supply. 
While  many  of  these  ventures  seem  great,  they  are  not 
so  when  com])arc(l  w  itli  the  work  of  the  ancients.  The 
Imperial  Canal  <if  China  was  650  miles  long.  From  the 
Tigris  were  dug  cana]>  400  nu'Ics  long  and  400  feet  wide. 
Over  three  hundi-ed  iniUion  gallons  of  mountain  water 
were  brought  into  Rome  by  acjucducts  e\'ery  day  dur- 
ing the  years  of  its  greatness.  The  irrigated  lands  of 
ancient  Peru  yielded  enough  cacli  harvest  to  feed  the 
])eo])le  for  se\en  years.  I'erliaps.  some  da\',  America 
will  produce  a  genius  who  will  make  ever}-  part  of  the 
land  bloom  with  fertility.     Should  he  come  tomorrow  he 


OF    THE    United    States 


39 


would  tap  the  Missouri  Ri\er  and  bring  its  floods  across 
the  States  of  the  Dakotas,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  Colorado 
and  Texas. 

The  Reclamation  Act. — On  Ji^inc  17,  1902,  the  Recla- 
mation Act  l)ecame  a  law.  Under  its  provisions,  "all 
moneys  received  from  the  disposal  of  public  lands  in 
sixteen  AVestcrn  states,  except  five  per  cent,  reserved 
for  educational   and   other  purposes,   are   set   aside  as   a 


Courtesy  Northern  Pac.  Ry. 
MAIN    CANAL— LOWER    YELLOWSTONE    PROJECT 

special  fund  to  be  used  for  the  construction  and  mainte- 
nance of  irrigation  w^orks  for  the  storage,  diversion  and 
development  of  waters  for  the  reclamation  of  arid  lands 
in  these  states." 

The  lands  so  reclaimed  are  sul)ject  to  homestead 
entry,  and  there  is  absolutely  no  charge  for  the  land  itself, 
except  the  usual  filing  fees.  However,  the  settler  must 
pay  the  government,  in  not  more  than  ten  annual  install- 
ments, without  interest,  his  proportion  according  to  the 


40 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


number  of  acres  he  owns,   of  the   anniunt   expended   in 
reclaiming  this  land. 

Another  law,  called  the  "Carey  Act,"  had  been 
passed  in  1894,  which  donated  one  million  acres,  in  each 
of  the  arid  states,  to  the  states  themselves,  to  be  re- 
claimed by  the  states  or  through  private  corporations. 
The  states  protect  the  rights  of  the  settlers,  and  act  as  a 
court  of  last  resort  in  case  of  controversy  between  the 
settlers  and  water  companies.     A\'hen  the  major  portion 


C  oil)  i 


A  L )  l..^-i  n  l'a^\  A'v. 


250    BUSHELS    OF    POTATOES    PER    ACRE 


(if  the  land  irrigated  under  a  canal  system  is  sold,  the 
management  of  the  system  passes  to  the  settlers.  After 
the  last  payment  nn  the  water  is  made,  the  settlers  ha\"e 
to  pay  only  enough  to  keep  the  canal  in  repair  and  pro- 
vide for  its  operating  e.\])enses. 

The  Rio  Grande  Project. — One  of  the  greatest  of 
these  (ioxernmenl  canals  is  the  Rio  Grande  project,  by 
which  180,000  acres  of  land  in  Texas,  New  Mexico  and 


OF    THE    United    States 


41 


Mexico  will  be  reached.  Mexico  will  be  furnished  free 
water,  to  settle  the  claim  of  that  country  for  taking-  the 
water  from  the  Rio  Grande.  This  project  will  approxi- 
mately cost  nine  million  dollars.  The  lands  lie  on  both 
sides  of  the  Rio  Grande  for  a  hundred  miles  north  of 
El  Paso,  and  for  many  miles  south  of  that  city.  In 
Colorado  the  (iunnisim  River,  one  of  the  largest  streams 
in  the  state,  was  diverted  from  its  course,  throut-h  a  six- 


Coiirtcsy  So.  I'ac.  Ry. 
TEN    TONS    OF    GRAPES    FROM    ONE    VINE 


mile  tunnel  under  the  mountains,  and  turned  into  the 
fertile  Uncompahgre  Valley,  comprising  over  a  hundred 
thousand  acres.  For  all  time  to  come  the  waters  of  this 
river  will  leave  the  granite-bound  channel  they  have 
followed  for  ages  and  bring  prosperity  and  fertility  to 
the  ])eo])le  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains. 

The  water  rights  in  this  valley  cost  the  settlers,  ap- 


42  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

proximately,  $35.00  per  acre,  the  only  restriction  being 
that  the  lands  must  be  held  by  bona-fide  resident  set- 
tlers. This  land  cannot  be  held  by  non-residents,  or 
rented. 

The  Huntley,  Montana,  i)roject  accommodates  six 
hundred  farms  of  fort}'  acres  each.  In  this  section  the 
large  holdings,  under  jM-ivate  ownershi]:),  are  under  con- 
tract to  be  sub-divided  and  sold  to  actual  settlers.  All 
unallotted  government  farms  are  open  to  homestead  en- 
try. These  are  thrown  open  in  units  and  are  ready  for 
settlement  as  soon  as  the  units  are  made  ready.  The 
beginning  of  this  project  is  in  the  \*alley  of  the  Yel- 
lowstone River,  about  twelve  miles  below  Billings, 
Montana. 

The  Lower  Yellowstone  prr>iect  covers  67,000  acres 
of  land  in  Eastern  IMontana  and  Western  North  Dakota. 
This  region  is  i)articularly  productive  and  the  country  is 
undergoing  a  rapid  change. 

The  great  Shoshone  dam,  in  the  l'>ig  Horn  Basin, 
Wyoming,  is  325  feet  high,  and  creates  a  great  storage 
reservoir  in  the  valley  above  for  the  flood  waters  of  the 
river.  About  a  quarter  of  a  million  acres  of  land  is  sup- 
plied with  water  from  this  reservoir.  During  the  spring 
and  early  summer  the  melting  snows  of  the  mountains 
swell  the  volume  of  these  mountain  streams  to  large  pro- 
portions, while  in  the  late  summer  the  long-continued 
droughts  shrink  their  A-olume  to  that  of  small  streams. 
On  account  of  this  irregularity  of  flow  it  was  found  nec- 
essary to  i)ro\idc  means  for  the  storage  of  the  waters  of 
the  s])ring  and  early  smnmer. 

yVnother  great  dam  constructed  for  this  purpose  is 
the  l'athrin(k'r.  in  the  North  I'latte  project.  It  is  215 
feet  high  and  225  feet  long  and  has  capacity  for  enough 
water  to  supply  125,000  acres.  Other  great  projects  that 
have  been  constructed  are  the  Carson-Truckee  in  Nevada, 
the  Fayette-Boise  in  Idaho,  the  Klamath  in  Oregon,  the 
Salt   l\i\er  in  Arizona  and  others,  twentv-six  in  all.     It 


OF    THE    United    States  43 

is  one  of  the  most  beneficent   works  ever  carried  ctu  l)v 
any  government  fur  its  people. 

Fertility  of  Reclaimed  Land.-  Most  of  the  land  that 
is  being-  reclaimed  has  wonderful  fertility,  when  suffi- 
ciently su])plied  with  moisture,  ft  is  possible  to  support 
a  family  from  one  acre,  by  intensi\'e  culti\ation  in  fruits 
and  vegetables.  In  most  sections  five  acres  is  enough 
and  ten  acres  is  all  that  one  family  can  take  care  of 
properly.  Fruit  growing  has  become  one  of  our  great- 
est industries,  especially  in  our  irrigated  sections,  and 
what  was  formerlv  the  "Great  American  Desert"  has 
become  valuable  to  the  extreme,  land  selling  anywhere 
from  fifty  dollars  to  two  thousand  dollars  per  acre. 

Better  Methods  of  Farming  Needed. — The  great 
need  of  additions  to  the  tillable  area  of  the  United  States 
is  forci1)ly  shown  when  we  consider  the  rapid  increase  of 
our  population — practically  one  million  emigrants  enter 
this  country  everv  year — in  addition  to  the  natural  in- 
crease of  our  jiopulation.  The  (piestion  of  homes  for 
future  generations  is  of  great  impitrtance.  There  will 
ne\er  be  any  more  land  in  the  countr}-  than  there  is  now, 
and,  as  the  number  of  inhabitants  increases,  the  propor- 
tionate increased  value  of  the  land  is  evident.  Forty 
years  ago  the  Mississi])i)i  Valley  was  spoken  of  as  "out 
West,"  and  the  Missouri  A\alley  was  the  frontier.  Now 
the  entire  countrv  has  been  settled  and  developed  to  the 
Pacific  coast.  In  a  very  few  years  there  will  not  be  a 
tillable  farm  in  the  ])ul)lic  domain,  outside  of  the  recla- 
mation area.  The  situation  is  being  relieved  by  the  in- 
troduction of  new  and  better  methods  of  farming. 

Dry  Panning  has  made  productive  large  regions  in 
the  middle  West  that  were  formerly  regarded  as  of  little 
or  no  value.  During  the  i^ast  ten  years  over  160.000,000 
acres  of  ])ublic  lands  have  been  taken  up,  l)ut,  real  home- 
makers  have  settled  upon  only  a  small  proportion  of  this 
vast  area.     However,  the  day  ()f  the  large  farm  is  rapidly 


44  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

Hearing  its  close.  The  farm  containing-  a  quarter  of  a 
section,  or  more,  carelessly  cultivated,  comparatively, 
recjuiring-  ceaseless  work  and  yielding  a  proportionately 
small  return  per  acre,  cannot  hold  its  own  against  the 
satisfaction  and  ample  rewards  of  the  smaller  farm. 

Irrigation  Means  Stability. — Where  irrigation  pre- 
vails there  is  certainty,  abundance  and  \'ariety  of  prod- 
ucts. Unfavorable  seasons  do  not  exist,  as  water  may 
be  procured  at  will  and  the  growth  of  the  products  is 
at  the  command  of  the  farmer.  The  marvelous  yields 
from  irrigated  lands  at  first  seemed  incredible,  yet  the 
Mormons  in  Utah  created  wealth  of  more  than  half  a 
billion  dollars  from  a  desert  of  alkali  and  sage  brush, 
almost  before  we  knew  what  they  were  doing.  An  enor- 
mous advantage  over  farmers  in  the  humid  states  will 
soon  be  enjoyed  l)y  the  dweller  in  the  one-time  desert, 
when  the  great  water  powers  there  are  completely  har- 
nessed and  utilized  for  his  needs.  It  is  entirely  probable 
that  in  a  few  years  the  farmers  there  will  do  all  of  their 
heavy  work  with  electricity,  and  their  wives  will  have 
all  of  their  Ijurdens  greatly  lightened  by  the  same  force. 
It  is  very  ])robable  that  in  the  West  will  be  developed 
the  most  nearly  perfect  farm  conditions  in  the  whole 
country.  The  irrigation  farmer  will  become  a  inamifac- 
tiirer  o{  farm  ])r(i(hK-ts. 

Results  of  Irrigation  in  America. — The  great  Amer- 
ican desert  is  vanishing  from  the  maj)  as  if  bv  magic. 
nVelve  million  acres  of  this  barren  tract  lia\  e  ahx'ady 
been  subdued  by  means  of  irrigation  and  agriculture,  and 
are  producing  bountiftd  and  assinxd  harvests  every  year. 
A  quarter  of  a  inillidu  families  are  residing  u])iiii  farms 
and  as  many  more  have  found  homes  and  occupations 
in  the  cities.  Towns  and  \illages  lia\e  s])rung  up  in  the 
midst  I'f  this  modern  agricultural  area.  Ilundreds  of 
thousands  of  people  in  the  cities  and  towns  of  the  East 
have  invested  in  these  lands  and  are  getting  them  ready 


OF    THE    United    States  45 

for  occupancy.  These  people  look  forward  to  a  future 
spent  in  wholesome  and  pleasant  lal)or  tilling  the  soil. 
Great  dams  have  been  constructed  to  impound  the  floods, 
and.  through  seventy  thousand  miles  of  canals  and 
ditches,  the  life-giving  water  has  been  turned  upon  the 
dusty  desert.  The  streams  have  also  been  harnessed 
for  power  and  an  area  of  manufacturing  is  dawning  in 
which  all  of  the  raw  products  of  the  farm,  the  forests 
and  the  mines  will  be  prepared  for  the  markets  of  the 
world. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  What  is  meant  by  intensive  farming? 

2.  Explain  how  it  is  possible  for  a  family  to  live 
from  the  proceeds  of  very  small  farms. 

3.  Land  in  irrigated  valleys  often  sells  for  a  tlmu- 
sand  dollars  or  more  an  acre,  yet  there  is  frequently  more 
profit  from  farming  such  land  than  from  much  less  ex- 
pensive land  depending  upon  rainfall.     Discuss  reasons. 

4.  Does  the  position  of  a  state  affect  its  rainfall  and 
temperature? 

5.  What  part  of  the  United  States  was  affected  by 
the  prehistoric  glaciers? 

6.  Sketch  a  map  of  the  United  States  showing  the 
glacial  areas.     The  irrigated  areas. 

7.  Where  are  the  Everglades?  Can  they  be  suc- 
cessfully reclaimed?  In  some  parts  of  the  country  mil- 
lions of  feet  of  tiling  are  used  by  the  farmers.  Discuss 
its  value. 

8.  Is  there  a  possibility  that  the  supply  of  water 
for  irrigation  will  ever  be  exhausted? 

9.  Why  are  the  Mississippi,  the  Missouri  and  other 
rivers  much  more  shallow  during  the  summer  months 
than  formerly? 


46  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    VI 

THE   FARMING   INDUSTRY 

There  are  about  twehe  million  people  engaged  in 
agriculture  in  the  United  States,  notwithstanding  the 
heavy  demands  made  by  the  cities  for  workers  for  the 
many  other  industries.  Agriculture  is  the  most  nearly 
fundamental  of  all  industries,  and,  in  point  of  the  number 
of  people  engaged  in  it,  is  the  chief  industry  of  this  coun- 
try. Its  importance  may  be  better  understood  by  con- 
sidering that  agricultural  products  constitute  eighty  per 
cent,  of  all  our  exports.  The  ten  leading  products  of  our 
fields  recjuire  a  farming  area  larger  than  all  the  British 
Isles  and  France  combined. 

The  Relation  of  Farming  to  Location. — The  Amer- 
ican farmer  occupies  a  uni([uc  position,  as  his  status  is  en- 
tirely ditferent  from  that  of  any  other  in  the  world. 
I'arniing,  like  other  industries,  may  be  either  a  business 
or  a  mere  occupation.  Every  year  it  is  becoming,  more 
and  more,  one  of  the  most  highly  s])ecialized  industries. 
Those  who  contemplate  entering  this  occupation  should 
first  determine  what  particular  crop  Avill  thrive  best  in 
the  locality  under  consideration.  AVe  have  cotton  in  the 
South,  corn  in  the  middle  West,  wheat  in  the  North 
Central  States  and  fruit  in  the  West  and  Southwest. 
Sugar  beets,  staple  vegetables  and  other  products  repre- 
sent a  wide  range  of  territory  aud  the  products  of  the 
market  garden  are  most  profitable  in  the  vicinity  of  large 
cities. 

Scientific  Farming. —The  farmer  todav  must  be 
something  of  a  chemist  and  a  botanist,  at  least  to  the 
extent  of  understanding  the  re(|uirenients  of  the  soil  in 
his  locality,     lie  must  know  what  necessary  elements  are 


OF    THE    United    States 


47 


48  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

lacking  and  how  to  supply  them  with  artificial  means. 
He  must  have  a  good  general  idea  as  to  drainage,  in  order 
to  obtain  the  best  advantage  from  his  land  and  he  must 
understand  what  elements  of  its  food  a  plant  derives  from 
the  atmosphere.  It  is  a  simple  thing  to  know  that  grapes 
grow  best  on  a  hillside,  where  they  get  the  advantage 
of  the  sun's  rays  a  greater  part  of  the  day,  and  this  is 
particularly  true  of  melons  and  other  fruits.  A  few 
such  facts,  understood  and  applied  some  years  ago,  would 
have  rendered  manv  an  abandoned  farm  profitable. 

Education  and  Its  Relation  to  Agriculture. — In  the 
same  manner,  the  dairyman  should  understand  the  chem- 
istry and  bacteriology  of  milk,  together  with  the  kind  of 
feed  best  calculated  to  produce  good  butter  and  cheese 
cpialities.  He  should  also  have  a  good  understanding  of 
the  points  that  mark  good  cattle  and  know  how  to  treat 
their  common  disorders,  in  order  to  raise  them  success- 
fully. This  is  the  day  of  the  educated  farmer,  and  great 
strides  have  been  made  during  the  past  decade,  in  every 
state,  to  provide  the  proper  kind  of  training  along  this 
line.  Among  the  greatest  educational  institutions  of  the 
land  are  the  agricultural  colleges  of  such  states  as  Iowa, 
Kansas,  South  Dakota,  Minnesota,  and  North  Dakota, 
while  many  other  institutions  of  renown,  such  as  Cornell 
University,  and  the  state  universities  of  Michigan,  A\'is- 
consin,  Missouri,  Nebraska  and  many  other  states  pro- 
vide exceptional  training  along  this  line. 

At  the  agricultural  colleges  the  courses  are  very 
thorough  and  their  completion  leads  to  the  degree  of 
Bachelor  of  Agriculture,  yet  there  are  shorter  courses 
where,  by  intensive  study,  one  may  take  training  along 
any  j^articular  line.  These  courses  are  sometimes  given 
during  the  winter  months,  when  there  is  little  work  upon 
the  farms,  or  they  may  be  taken  at  some  other  time  of 
the  year  during  a  lull  in  tlie  work.  Thousands  of  farm- 
ers take  courses  every  year  in  seed  selection,  stock 
judging,   jilant    spraying,    motor    engineering,    and    other 


OF    THE    United    States 


49 


branches.  The  farmer  is  thus  brought  to  reahze  that  his 
farm  is  something  Hke  the  factory,  or  some  other  great 
business  institution,  for  the  production  of  necessities  or 
hixuries  for  the  public,  which  may  be  made  to  yield  the 
highest  profits  if  handled  in  an  intelligent  and  well- 
informed  manner. 


Courtesy  Swift  &  Co. 
THE    FARM'S    GREATEST    SOURCE    OF    REVENUE 


Agricultural  Experiment  Stations. — ^Nearly  every 
State  conducts  an  experiment  station  in  connection  with 
its  school  of  agriculture.  Here  several  hundred  acres 
are  kept  under  constant  intelligent  cultivation,  both  in 
raising  all  kinds  of  vegetable  crops,  and  in  pasturing  and 
feeding   domestic    live   stock,    horses,    cattle,    sheep    and 


50  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

hogs.  Every  suggested  experiment  is  here  thoroughly 
tried  and  all  improvements  are  made  public,  that  the 
farmers  mav  profit  by  them. 

Farm  Machinery  and  Its  Relation  to  Food  Pro- 
duction.— At  the  beginning  of  the  past  century  only  three 
per  cent,  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  country  lived  in  cities, 
the  remainder  lived  in  small  towns  and  on  the  farms,  and 
were  dependent  upon  agriculture  for  subsistence.  There 
was  little  manufacturing,  as  almost  everything,  except 
the  products  of  the  soil,  was  imported.  At  that  time  there 
was  not  enough  wheat  raised  in  this  country  for  bread, 
and  it  was  feared  that  the  food  supply  would  not  keep 
pace  with  the  increasing  population.  The  limit  of  food 
production  with  the  sickle  had  l)cen  reached.  However, 
immediately  following  the  invention  of  the  reaper,  the 
number  of  bushels  per  acre  began  to  increase,  as  well  as 
the  size  of  the  farms,  as  much  more  grain  could  be 
handled  by  machine  than  by  hand  labor. 

From  the  ninety-seven  per  cent,  of  people  on  the 
farms  in  iSoo,  the  number  has  gradually  decreased,  until 
now  there  are  only  about  thirty-six  per  cent,  of  our 
population  left  to  work  the  farms.  There  has  been  a 
constant  flow  of  young  men  from  the  farm  to  the  city, 
yet  the  farms  of  today  produce,  with  only  one-third  of 
the  labor,  enough  to  feed  the  entire  population  and  ex- 
\n)vt  one  hundred  million  dollars  worth  of  products  per 
year. 

There  has  l^een  no  such  achievement  elsewhere  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Much,  of  course,  is  due  to  the 
fertile  soil  of  our  great  i)lains  and  valleys,  much  to  the 
government  which  has  given  security  to  property,  and 
much  to  the  great  railroads  that  have  transported  the 
products  across  the  continent.  Much  more  is  due,  how- 
ever, to  our  great  number  of  inventors,  who  have  recog- 
nized the  necessity  nf  improved  methods  on  the  farm, 
and  who  lia\c  provided  the  farmers  with  tools  and  im- 
plements,   that    have    enabled    them    to    produce    more 


OF    THE    United    States 


51 


cheap!}'  than  any  other  nation  in  the  world.  In  no 
other  country  could  be  harvested  so  expeditiously,  eighty 
million  acres  of  corn,  forty  million  acres  of  wheat, 
thirty  million  acres  of  oats,  twenty  million  acres  of  cot- 
ton and  fifty  million  acres  of  grass,  every  year. 

Consider  for  a  moment  how  it  would  seem  to  at- 
tempt to  harvest  eighty  million  acres  of  wheat  with  the 
sickle  and  thresh  it  with  a  flail!  How  absurd  it  would 
be  to  attempt  to  gin  ten  million  bales  of  cotton  by  hand ! 


Cuiirtcsy  Swifl  &  Co. 
PROGRESSIN'F.    F.\R^[ERS    RAISE    FINE    CATTLE 


While  the  cotton  crop  gives  employment  to  more  capital 
and  labor  than  any  other  one  product  of  the  farm,  yet 
the  area  planted  in  cotton  is  only  one-fourth  that  planted 
in  c(irn,  and  miw  we  are  picking  cotton  by  machinery 
and  a  new  era  has  opened. 

The  plow,  seeder,  planter  and  cultixator  have  pro- 
duced areas  of  the  small  grains  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible to  harvest  without  the  self-binder.    The  crooked 


52  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

stick — the  plow  for  centuries — merely  scratched  the 
surface  of  the  ground.  Our  inventors  have  so  fashioned 
the  plow  that  the  soil  is  completely  turned  over.  The 
operator  now  rides,  and  in  place  of  one  furrow  he  turns 
over  two  or  more,  and  the  latest  wonder  is  as  many  as 
twenty  gang  plows  pulled  by  a  traction  engine !  Har- 
rows from  eight  to  thirty  feet  in  width  follow  the  plow- 
ing and  prepare  the  soil  perfectly  for  the  seed.  The  im- 
provements in  planters  and  drills  have  not  added  so 
much  to  the  area  as  they  have  to  the  quality  of  the 
planting.  Cotton  can  stand  in  the  field  for  three  months 
after  it  ripens  and  corn  can  be  picked  after  the  snow 
falls,  but  wheat  and  other  small  grains  must  be  har- 
vested when  ripe.  The  reaper  is,  therefore,  the  fore- 
runner of  civilization. 

Increasing  Value  of  Farms. — It  seems  hardly  pos- 
sible that,  within  the  last  fifty  years,  the  total  value  of 
the  farms  of  the  United  States  has  increased  twenty-five- 
fold, l)ut  such  is  the  case.  The  Great  American  Desert 
has  been  made  over,  by  irrigation,  into  the  most  pro- 
ductive region  imaginable.  A  million  people  pour  int(^ 
this  country  every  year,  in  addition  to  the  natural  in- 
crease 1)y  a  like  number.  This  all  means  that  the  farms 
must  gradually  become  smaller  and  the  farming  more 
intensive,  as  is  the  case  in  foreign  countries  having  a 
congested  population.  The  education  of  our  farmers  will 
enable  them  to  produce  greater  yields  per  acre  with 
corresj)ondingly  greater  returns. 

harms  in  the  United  States  are  operated  by  three 
classes  of  peo])le :  owners,  cash  tenants  and  share  ten- 
ants. About  sixt}'  ])er  rrnt  of  the  farms  are  operated 
b\-  the  lirst  class,  and  this  nmnber  is  gradually  increas- 
ing. In  some  sections  of  the  country  tlie  land  is  owned 
b}  large  syndicates,  who  oj)erate  ui)on  an  elaborate  scale. 


OF    THE    United    States  53 

This   is  particularly   true   in   those   sections   adapted   for 
the  growing  of  wheat  and  cutton. 

Tenant  farmers  are  of  two  classes:  those  who  were 
formerly  farm  owners  and  have  taken  a  step  downward 
and  those  who  were  formerly  farm  laborers  and  have 
taken  a  step  upward,  ^^'e  often  hear  it  said  that  it  is 
impossible  for  a  young  man  to  begin  with  nothing  and 
become  the  possessor  of  a  good  farm  clear  from  incum- 
brances. Yet,  during  the  past  decade  the  number  of 
farms  worked  by  their  owners  has  increased  twenty  per 
cent.  There  are  great  opportunities  for  the  farm  hand 
who  is  industrious  and  economical. 

Of  all  classes  of  help  the  farm  laborer  is  the  most 
difficult  to  find  and  retain.  Such  labor  is  so  scarce  in 
some  states  that  it  is  necessary  to  import  men,  who  are 
usually  novices,  to  do  the  work.  This  is  particularly  true 
in  the  wheat  belt.  In  the  West  and  Northwest  the  ma- 
jority of  the  laborers  are  Chinese  and  Japanese  and  in 
the  South  many  negroes  are  employed.  In  many  states 
the  farm  hands  are  almost  as  well  off  as  their  employers. 
Alachinery  has  reduced  their  drudgery  to  the  minimum, 
while  their  wages  have  steadily  advanced. 

Opportunity  for  the  Farmer. — The  freedom  from 
restraint,  the  feeling  of  eciuality  and  knowledge  of  op- 
portunity, which  lies  before  every  farmer,  should  be  an 
inspiration,  and  spur  ever}'  one  to  eft'orts  such  as  have 
wrought  the  marvelous  progress  in  farming,  wdiich  has 
been  made  during  the  past  century.  The  field  lay  open 
to  all  at  the  beginning,  but  it  was  only  the  American 
farmer  who  found  out,  accepted  and  successfully  used 
new  methods,  new  implements  and  machines,  thereby  in- 
creasing manv  times  his  power  of  production  and  en- 
abling him  to  compete  in  the  markets  of  the  world 
against  cheap  labor.  At  the  same  time  he  is  the  best 
fed  and  best  dressed  farmer  in  the  world  and  has  every 
opportunity  for  culture  and  relinement. 


54  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  What  is  a  homestead?     A  timber  claim? 

2.  May  hind  yet  l)e  taken  by  homestead  or  timber 
claim  ?     Who  is  entitled  to  the  right  ? 

3.  I  low  are  forest  reserves  or  Indian  lands  thrown 
open  to  settlement?     What  is  the  cost  of  entry? 

4.  What  is  a  patent?  A  quit-claim  deed?  War- 
ranty deed?  Deed  of  trust?  Obtain  samples  of  each 
and  study  provisions. 

5.  What  effect  does  climate  have  upon  determin- 
ing what  crops  are  suitable  for  each  section? 

6.  Why  is  New  England  better  adapted  for  manu- 
facturing than  farming?  What  can  you  say  of  the  farms 
there? 

7.  Why  is  farming,  in  general,  not  carried  on  upon 
a  large  scale  near  the  cities? 

8.  New  York  has  gradually  changed  from  a  farm- 
ing state  to  a  dairying  state.     Why? 

9.  What  is  meant  by  crop  rotation?  ^^dly  is  it 
practised?  How  is  it  ])ossible  to  raise  cotton  in  the 
South  and  wheat  in  the  Middle  A\"est,  year  after  year, 
with  no  decrease  in  the  yield? 

TO.  What  have  the  Agricultural  Colleges,  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture  and  the  great  implement  com- 
panit-s  (lone  toward  increasing  the  yield  of  the  farms  and 
the  education  of  the  farmers? 

i[.  Obtain  Farmers'  T'ulletins  from  tlie  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  and  from  the  Agrirultiu-al  depart- 
lucnt  of  vour  own   state. 


OF    THE    United    States 


55 


CHAPTER    VII 

THE   CORN  CROP 

Corn  was  the  name  formerly  applied  by  the  people 
of  every  land  to  their  leading  grain.  Alaize,  or  Indian 
corn,  was  first  found  in  America,  and  now  furnishes  food 
for  a  larger  part  of  the  human  race  than  any  other  grain 
except  rice.  It  is  the  most  valuable  crop  grown  on 
American  soil.  While  this  country  gave  it  to  the  world 
and  taught  all  people  how  to  use  it  for  bread,  as  well  as 
for  many  other  things,  we  still  produce  over  four-fifths 
of  the  world's  crop,  amounting  to  over  two  billion  bush- 
els per  year,  which  is  grown  upon  over  90,000,000  acres 
of  ground. 

The  Corn  Crop. — The  most  striking  facts  in  the 
history  of  the  world's  agriculture  are  given  in  a  recent 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  Agriculture.  In  this  report  the 
value  of  the  corn  crop  is  given  as  $1,720,000,000 — enough 
to  pay  for  the  clothing  and  personal  adornment  of  all 
the  people  in  this  country.  The  gold  and  silver  coins 
and  bullion  of  the  United  States  are  not  of  greater  value. 
This  wonderful  crop  has  grown  uj)  from  the  soil  and  out 
of  the  air  in  120  days — enough  value  to  build  two  of  the 
greatest  battleships  on  eartii  every  day!  One  cannot 
realize  how  much  corn  this  is.  Loaded  in  freight  cars 
it  would  make  a  train  that  would  reach  around  the 
earth.  It  has  given  the  states  of  the  corn  belt  most 
of  their  wealth  and  helped  to  establish  most  of  their 
industries.  Wonderful  as  this  may  seem,  the  average 
yield  per  acre  is  only  about  twenty-six  bushels.  What 
will  it  be  when  we  produce  fifty  bushels  per  acre? 


56 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


Corn  Products. — As  a  breadstuff  corn  is  second  only 
to  wheat,  and  its  consumption  for  this  purpose  is  rap- 
idly increasing.  But  this  is  only  one  of  many  uses. 
So  extensively  does  it  enter  into  our  daily  life  that  we 
encounter  a  great  many  things  that  impress  us  with  the 
importance  of  this  regal  grain.  The  hominy  mills  con- 
sume great  quantities  of  corn  and  many  of  the  leading 
breakfast  foods  are  made  from  it.  Corn  oil  is  almost 
indispensable   in   the   manufacture   of   the   better   grades 


•WUKN     THE     l-ROST     IS     ON     THE     PUNKIN     AN'     THE     FODDER'S 

IN    THE    SHOCK" 


of  soap,  and  it  is  also  used  as  a  substitute  for  oli\e  oil, 
and  even  a  substitute  for  ni1)bcr  has  been  made  from  it. 
iMost  of  the  starches  upon  the  market  are  pure  cnvu 
products.  I*"our-fifths  of  the  syrups  used  in  America  are 
made  from  corn,  and  most  candies  contain  corn  syrup  or 
glucose  as  a  basis.  The  coloring  of  most  of  the  cluth 
about  the  household  was  ])ri  il)al)l\-  dune  tlir<iugh  tlie  use 
of  dextrine,  which  is  used  as  a  medium  for  holding  the 
color  during  the  printing  processes. 


OF    THE    United    States 


57 


A\"e  seldom  speak  of  meat  or  live-stock  without 
thinking  of  "corn  on  the  hoof."  The  horses  and  other 
animals  on  the  farm  were  fattened  upon  corn.  Corn 
is  also  used  very  extensively  by  distilleries  in  the  manu- 
facture of  spirituous  liquors,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the 
sugar  used  in  the  United  States  is  made  from  corn. 
It  also  furnishes  a  good  substitute  for  gum  Arabic 
which  is  used  in  the  preparation  of  the  white  pastes  in 
common  use.  Over  one  hundred  distinct  ])roducts  are 
made  from  this  grain,  and  there  are  countless  uses  for 
the  stalks,  cobs  and  husks. 


Courtesy  I ntcrnational  Hart  ester  Co. 
KX'ERV    EAR    SHOULD    HAVE    BEEN    GOOD 


From  the  corn  pith  we  ol:»tain  cellulose,  an  indis- 
pensable article  used  between  the  inner  and  outer  hulls 
of  battleships.  When  the  hull  of  the  vessel  is  pierced  the 
cellulose  swells  almost  instantly,  ui)on  coming  in  con- 
tact with  water,  and  autoiuatically  closes  the  aperture. 
Denatured  alcohol  is  made  from  the  stalk  as  well  as  from 
the  grain.  The  husks  are  largely  used  in  the  manu- 
facture of  mattresses.  The  cobs  are  valuable  for  fuel, 
and    in    Missouri    alone,    over   twenty-five    million    corn- 


58  Industrial-Commkrcial    Geography 

cob  pipes  were  made  last  year.     Is  it  any  wonder  that 
we  speak  of  corn  as  the  King  of  Grains? 

Corn  Growing  Sections. — While  corn  may  be  profit- 
ably grown  in  all  of  the  states  of  the  Union,  Illinois, 
Iowa,  Missouri,  Indiana,  Kansas  and  parts  of  Ohio  and 
Nebraska  comprise  what  is  generally  known  as  the  "corn 
belt,"  for  here  the  acreage  and  yield  is  greatest.  In  these 
states  the  average  production  is  about  thirty-five  bushels 
per  acre.  The  plant  requires  a  rich,  loamy  soil,  long 
summers  and  warm  nights.  While  it  requires  an  abun- 
dance of  moisture,  too  much  rainfall  is  disastrous.  Corn 
thrives  well  in  Italy,  Austria  and  the  Balkan  Peninsula 
and  is  a  very  important  crop  in  Australia.  It  is  also  a 
staple  crop  in  Mexico  and  from  it  the  natives  make  their 
tortillas. 

Seed  Selection. — Mr.  P.  G.  Holden,  when  connected 
with  the  Iowa  State  College,  did  more  than  any  other 
man  U\  increase  the  yield  and  quality  of  corn,  by  carry- 
ing his  ideas  directly  to  the  farmers.  He  was  the  orig- 
inator of  the  "corn  gospel"  train,  which  has  traversed 
all  of  the  states  of  the  corn  belt  many  times.  Mr.  Holden 
began  this  campaign  for  more  and  better  corn  In'  telling 
the  farmers  that  they  should  carefully  select  their  seed 
corn,  test  it  in  a  germinating  box  and  plant  only  seed 
from  such  ears  as  were  found  to  ])ossess  perfect  vitality. 
If  a  single  grain  failed  to  sprout,  the  entire  ear  should  be 
rejected.  He  argued  that  money  spent  for  the  best  seed 
corn  was  well  spent,  no  matter  what  the  price  may  be. 
If  a  farmer  had  an  imperfect  stand,  or  if  part  of  the 
stalks  produced  "nubbins,"  then  the  same  proportion  of 
the  farmer's  labor  was  wasted. 

Suppose  that  the  product  of  a  single  hill  is  four  ears 
of  various  size  and  quality,  we  seldom  attach  any  im- 
portance to  this,  as  it  is  such  a  common  occurrence. 
The  conditi(»n  of  soil,  climate  aiid  moisture  were  the 
same,  and  each  stalk  in  the  hill  received  the  same  culti- 


OF    THE    United    States 


59 


vation.  The  difference  lies  entirely  in  the  character  of 
the  seed  planted.  This  condition  can  only  be  remedied 
1)\'  testing  every  ear  of  seed  corn  before  planting,  and 
nsing"  onl\-  such  ears  as  show  g'ood.  healthy  sprouts. 

The  germinating-  box  is  usualh-  made  about  six 
inches  deep,  di^■ided  into  smallei'  rectangular  compart- 
ments and  i^artiall}'  tilled  with  moist  sand  or  sawdust, 
each  square  being  numl)ered  to  correspond  to  the  ears 
being  tested.  Six  grains  are  taken  from  different  parts 
of  each  ear,  and  placed  in  the  proper  compartment,  and 


Courtesy  International  Harvester  Co. 

selecting  grains  for  testing 


they  should  germinate  in  from  four  to  six  days.  At  that 
time  the  ears  corresponding  to  those  grains  showing" 
weak  vitality  should  be  rejected. 


Soil  Preparation. — The  yield  may  also  be  increased 
by  scientific  selection  and  preparation  of  the  ground. 
The  old-time  farmer  planted  the  same  ground  in  corn, 
year  after  year,  and  wondered  why  the  yield  gradually 
decreased.  This  condition  can  be  remedied  by  a  system- 
atic rotation  of  crops,  by  the  use  of  fertilizer,  or  by  sow- 
ing the  ground  to  clover,  alfalfa  or  other  humous  crops 
for   a   time,   which   will   restore   the   exhausted   elements 


6o  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

to  the  soil.  The  use  of  modern  machinery  will  also 
materially  increase  the  production,  as  perfect  cultivation 
is  always  essential. 

Some  varieties  of  corn  are  much  better  adapted  to 
certain  localities  than  others.  In  some  sections  the  white 
yields  better  than  the  yellow,  and  in  other  localities  the 
small  varieties  actually  produce  more  bushels  to  the  acre 
than  the  large  ears.  Among  the  leading  varieties  are : 
Boone  County  White,  Reid's  Yellow  Dent,  Iowa  Silver 
Mine,  Golden  Eagle,  Leaming  and  Cattle  King. 

Flint  corn  is  grown  extensively  in  the  eastern  and 
northern  parts  of  the  United  States,  the  grains  being 
characterized  by  a  hard  outer  covering,  nature's  protec- 
tion from  the  cold. 

In  the  extremely  northern  states  a  small  variety 
called  "squaw"  corn  is  the  only  one  that  can  be  grown, 
as  it  ripens  in  the  short  season  of  ninety  days  or  less. 
Sometimes  half  a  dnzt;n  stalks  will  branch  out  from  one 
root.  The  ears  are  very  small  but  the  number  of  bushels 
per  acre  is  often  as  great  as  from  the  standard  varieties 
grown  farther  south. 

Corn  Canning  Industry. — The  growing  of  corn  for 
canning  is  an  important  industry  in  Illinois,  Iowa,  New 
York,  Ohio,  Maine  and  some  other  states,  and  the  indus- 
try is  growing  very  rapidly.  For  this  purpose  sweet  corn 
is  used  and  there  arc  many  varieties  grown,  Stowell's 
Evergreen  being  the  most  popular.  The  corn  is  gathered 
while  green  and  the  kernels  cut  from  the  cob. 

Everybody  is  familiar  with  the  many  tasteful  prepa- 
rations made  from  popcorn,  the  growing  of  which  has 
become  an  enormous  industry  in  the  United  States.  The 
most  ])opular  variety  is  called  White  Rice,  and  much  is 
exported  each  year. 

How  Corn  is  Harvested.-  -The  invention  and  manu- 
facture of  modern  machinery  has  facilitated  the  handling 
of  corn    til   a   wonderful    extent.      The   corn    binder   mini- 


OF    THE    United    States 


6i 


mizes  labor  for  shockinj^-  and  lianling,  and  some  of  these 
devices  are  so  simple  that  they  can  l)e  constructed  by 
the  farmer  himself.  The  binder  will  liandle  corn  that 
has  been  blown  down,  and  drop  the  bunches  at  con- 
venient places  for  shocking.  \\\  using-  one  of  the  very 
latest  machines  a  shock  is  l)uilt  upon  a  platform  as  the 
machine  moves  along  and  it  is  shifted  to  the  ground 
when  completed.     The  busker  and  shredder  removes  the 


t  (iiirtcsy  Joint  Dcrc  Plant  Co. 
KINGS     OF    THE     CORN     SNOW 


husk  at  the  barn  and  automatical!)'  stores  the  shreds 
away  for  use  as  feed.  No  machine  has  yet  been  invented 
to  husk  the  corn  successfully  in  the  field,  although  sev- 
eral have  been  tried.  This  operation  must  yet  be  done 
by  hand,  in  which  case  the  stalks  are  left  standing  in 
the  field.  Stock  will  eat  the  fodder  during  the  winter 
and  in  the  spring  the  remaining  stalks  are  plowed  under 
the  ground. 


o 


62  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

The  Marketing  of  Corn. — While  the  market  for  corn 
is  always  brisk,  it  will  bring-  about  four  times  as  much, 
depending-  upon  current  prices,  of  course,  when  fed  t 
hogs  or  cattle.  The  most  successful  corn  growers  are, 
consequently,  heavy  feeders.  This  is  exemplified  at  the 
largest  corn  farm  in  the  wnrld,  the  Rankin  Farm  near 
Tarkio,  Missouri.  Here  are  grown  about  20,000  acres  of 
corn  every  year,  the  farm  consisting  of  30,000  acres.  On 
this  farm  over  1,500,000  bushels  are  grown  every  vear, 
and  as  much  more  is  usually  purchased,  every  bushel  of 
which  is  used  for  feed.  On  the  average,  .$100  worth  of 
corn  is  fed  every  hour,  4,000  bushels  daily,  to  6,000  cattle 
and  20,000  hogs. 

To  plant  and  cultiA'ate  this  crup  recjuires  an  in- 
vestment of  v$5o,ooo  worth  of  machinery.  In  every  oper- 
ation a  man  cares  for  two  rows  at  a  time,  each  man  cov- 
ering about  twenty  acres  in  a  single  day.  I'his  modest 
Missouri  farmer  is  the  real  "Corn  King,"  whether  the 
"bears"  or  the  "bulls"  are  in  the  ascendancy,  producing 
more  than  any  other  farmer  in  the  world,  and  feeding 
a  larger  number  of  cattle  and  hogs  than  any  either  indi- 
vidual. And  he  began,  on  part  of  the  jiresent  farm,  with 
a  yoke  of  oxen,  an  old-fashioned  plow  and  plenty  of  am- 
bition ! 

The  methods  of  selling  corn  arc  the  same  as  those 
used  in  the  sale  of  all  other  grains,  as  described  in  the 
Studv  of  the  Grain  Market. 


FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  Make  a  map  of  the    United  States,  colorhig  the 
states  producing  the  most  corn. 

2.  flow   does   corn   compare   with   wheat   as   a   ])ro- 
ducti\c  ])lanl?     Whit-Ji  is  the  most  usefid? 

3.  Why    is    Corn    most    successful!}-    grown    in    the 
Mississippi   \  alley  ? 


OF    THE    United    States  63 

4.  How  docs  the  Department  of  Agriculture  assist 
corn  growers?  What  action  liave  the  states,  indi\'idually, 
taken  along'  this  line? 

5.  Name  the  Agricultural  Colleges  that  have  been 
of  most  assistance  to  the  cum  growers.  T.ocate  them 
u])on  your  map. 

6.  \\'hat  railroads  enter  the  corn  belt?  Sketch  them 
upon  Vdur  map,  slmwing  the  principal  ])(iints  reached. 

7.  Make  a  germinating  box  and  test  a  number  of 
ears  of  seed  corn.  What  is  a  grader?  What  is  pollen? 
What  is  the  tassel?     What  ])uri)ose  does  the  silk  serve? 

8.  Write  to  the  nearest  Agricultural  College  for 
grading  blanks  and  learn  to  score  ears  of  corn. 

9.  Why  do  cities  go  to  great  expense  in  sending  out 
seed  corn  "specials"  to  teach  the  farmers  to  raise  better 
c(  )rn  ? 

TO.  What  effect  has  the  advent  of  the  sil(T  had  upon 
the  corn  industry  ? 

11.  Where  has  the  >s^ational  Corn  Show  been  held 
and  of  what  state  haxe  the  prize  winners  generally  been 
residents? 

12.  What  are  the  characteristics  of  a  good  ear  of 
corn  ? 


64 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    VIII 

THE   WHEAT   INDUSTRY 

AX'heat  occupiL-s  the  highest  place  among  food 
plants.  Its  origin  is  older  than  civilization,  being  spoken 
of  as  "corn"  in  olden  times.     It  was  the  favorite  srain 


•'"1 


Luurtesy  Rock  Island  Lines 
A    FIELD    OF    SHOCKED    WHEAT 


of  the  old  Egyptians  and  to  this  day  the  Valley  of  the 
Xile  still  furnishes  a  wealth  of  wheat  to  its  crowded 
])opuhitinn.  The  t'ountrio  most  noted  fur  its  ])ri  iduotimi 
are:  the  United  States,  South  Anu'rica.  Russia,  l-"rance 
and  India,  the  United  States  being  the  foremost,  as  the 
invention  and  ust'  of  impro\n'd  maciiiner\  in  this  coun- 
try has  been  responsihU'  for  an  incn  a-^i'd  ])ro(hu-tion  that 
is  unparalleled. 


OF    THE    United    States  65 

The  Production  of  Wheat. — There  was  a  time  when 
our  methods  were  as  crude  as  they  arc  yet  in  some  parts 
of  Mexico,  Russia  and  other  foreign  countries,  for,  one 
hundred  years  ago  we  could  not  raise  enough  wheat  for 
our  own  use,  while  at  that  time  97  per  cent,  of  our  popu- 
lation lived  on  the  farm.  Today  about  36  per  cent,  of  our 
people  are  farmers  and  they  raise  over  700,000,000 
bushels  per  year,  ent)ugh  to  provide  one  and  one-half 
loaves  per  day,  for  every  inhabitant  of  the  land,  for  a 
year. 

The  cultivation  of  wheat  is  unlike  that  of  most  crops, 
for,  after  seeding,  there  is  little  work  to  be  done  until 
harvest  time.  The  plowing  is  done  in  the  early  fall,  and 
winter  wheat  is  sown  at  once,  the  fields  becoming  green 
before  the  snow  falls.  Where  the  winters  are  severe  the 
wheat  is  sown  early  in  the  spring.  Wheat  grows  best 
in  cool  weather,  with  occasional  rains,  and  ripens  best 
in  cool,  cloudy  weather,  but,  during  harvest  time  every 
hour  of  sunshine  is  cause  for  gratitude.  Formerly,  all 
work  was  done  by  the  use  of  horse  power,  but  the  trac- 
tion engine  is  rajndly  being  utilized.  The  perfection  of 
the  gasoline  engine  has  been  the  crowning  step  in  the 
history  of  power  development. 

By  the  old  method,  the  ground  was  plowed  with  a 
single  plow,  the  wheat  sown  broadcast  and  harrowed 
in.  Today  the  press  drill  is  in  almost  universal  use. 
It  drops  the  grain  in  rows  four  inches  apart  and  insures 
an  even  stand.  There  are  many  ^•arieties  of  wheat,  each 
adapted  to  some  ])articular  locality.  The  duram  and 
macaroni  varieties  will  grow  in  arid  regions  where  no 
other  variety  will  thrive  ;  then  there  are  the  bald,  bearded, 
hard,  soft,  white  and  red,  each  occupying  its  particular 
sphere.  The  wheat  plant  branches  very  extensively,  an 
average  of  five  hundred  grains  as  the  ])roduct  of  a  single 
grain  being  a  moderate  estimate. 

Harvesting  Wheat. — The  ])rimiti\e  method  of  har- 
vesting was    with   the   knife,   a   handful   at   a   time,   care 


66 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


being-  taken  not  to  lose  a  sint^ie  head;  then  the  sickle 
came  into  use,  as  it  wouhl  cut  a  larger  amount  with 
greater  ease.  This  method  was  never  used  in  this  coun- 
try, except  on  small  farms  for  gathering  fallen  grain,  but 
it  was  the  only  implement  known  in  foreign  lands  for 
centuries.  The  scythe  took  the  place  of  the  sickle,  as  it 
would  cut  a  still  larger  amount,  and,  by  adding  several 
wooden  fingers  above  the  blade,  we  were  given  the 
cradle,  which  gave  the  wheat  industry  a  new  impetus,  as 


Courtesy  International  Harvester  Co. 
REAPING    WITH    SICKLES     L\    ALGIERS 


it  would  out  a  wide  swath  and  keep  the  straws  straight 
at  the  same  time;  but  this  has  also  been  abandoned, 
except  in  hilly  countries  where  the  ground  is  too  steep 
for  wheeled  machinery.  A  man  walked  behind  the  cradle 
and  bound  the  wheat  into  sheaves  by  hand,  another  set 


OF    THE    United    States 


67 


the  sheaves  into  shocks,  breaking  two  sheaves  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  form  a  roof  for  the  shocks. 

The  Self-binder  and  Reaper. —  W  ithin  the  memory 
of  men  still  li^•in^■  the  reaper  was  invented.  This  ma- 
chine was  first  demonstrated  by  Cyrus  McCormick,  on 
a  \'irL;inia  farm,  in  1831.     1liis  machinr  not  only  cut  the 


c  .iiti  Icsy  I  nicy  national  Harvcslcr  Co. 
REAPING    WITH    CRADLES,    PENNSYLVANIA 


grain  easily,  but  it  encouraged  the  farmers  to  grow  larger 
crops.  When  the  self-binding  attachment  was  added  in 
1870,  a  wonderful  change  took  place.  It  is  claimed  that 
this  invention  mo\"ed  cix'ilization  westward  at  the  rate 
of  thirty  miles  per  year,  as  more  ground  was  needed,  that 
the  farmer  could  have  larger  fields  to  harvest.  x\s  farm 
machinery   was    improved,    our   agricultural    empire    ex- 


68 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


panded,  until  it  embraced  what  is  now  the  greatest  wheat 
district  in  the  world. 

It  is  a  great  sight  to  visit  a  bonanza  farm  while  har- 
vesting is  at  its  height.  In  the  earl\-  morning,  while  the 
dew  glistens  upon  the  grain,  the  harvesters  move  into 
the  cutting  line  until  there  may  be  forty  of  them  fringing 
the  waving  field  f<»r  a  quarter  of  a  mile.  The  reels  whirl 
like  great  wings,  and  a  swath  of  grain  six  feet  wide  goes 
down  at  every  turn,  the  whole  line  of  machines  leaving  a 
trail  of  sheaves.      Each   machine  cuts  twentv  acres  per 


McCOR.MrCK'S 


Courtesy  International  Hariester  Co. 
[RST    II.\R\ESTER 


day,  eight  hundred  acres  for  all  I  I^irtune  hangs  in  the 
balance  of  the  waving  wheat,  for  it  is  the  on.lv  crop  in 
its  chosen  section.  That  is  why  the  armv  of  harvesters 
are  at  work  at  break  of  day,  and  sometimes  the  harvest 
moon  si  hers  the  scene  as  the  binders  rattle  throughout 
the  entire  night. 

In  llie  southern  part  of  the  wheat  belt  the  header 
has  bt'en  u^ed  almost  exclusi\el\'.  This  machine  reaps 
the  grain  much  moi\'  ra])idly  than  the  binder,  it  being 
cut  about  ti\e  inclu's  below  the  heads,  as  the  machine'  is 
pushed  ahead  of  the   horses   through   the  grain.     An   au- 


OF 


THE    United    States  69 


tomatic  carrier  elevates  it  into  a  lari^e  barge,  and,  as 
soon  as  one  is  filled  another  takes  its  place.  Some  of 
these  machines  cut  an  area  as  much  as  twenty  feet  wide, 
but  it  is  not  ])ractical  where  there  is  enough  rain  to  en- 
danger the  wheat  in  the  shock,  as  it  will  not  turn  water 
like  bound  grain. 

The  Combined  Harvester  and  Thresher. —  In  Cali- 
fornia and  other  parts  of  the  West  we  may  see  the  mod- 
ern giant  of  the  harvest  field,  the  combined  harvester  and 
thresher.  This  machine  heads  the  wheat,  threshes  it, 
sacks  the  wheat  and  ties  the  straw  into  bundles!  About 
thirty  horses  are  required  to  pull  one  of  these  machines, 
very  frequently  traction  engines  are  used.  These  ma- 
chines are  only  practical  in  the  West,  for,  on  account  of 
the  long  dry  season,  the  wheat  may  be  allowed  to  stand 
until  entirely  ripe,  and  the  ground  also  becomes  suffi- 
ciently hardened  to  bear  the  great  weight  of  the  machine. 
Western  wheat  is  always  sold  in  the  sack,  and,  after 
harvest,  thousands  of  bushels  are  frequently  stacked  at 
the  railroad  stations  awaiting  shipment.  Our  growing 
relations  with  Oriental  countries  have  created  a  great 
market  for  wheat. 

Methods  of  Threshing  Wheat. — The  oldest  method 
of  threshing  grain  was  to  tramj)  it  out  with  horses  or 
other  animals,  h^or  centuries  it  was  pounded  out  upon 
a  threshing  fioor  with  the  flail,  and  when  the  heads  were 
all  shelled,  the  straw  was  raked  ofl:',  the  grain  and  chafif 
were  then  elevated  and  allowed  to  drop  through  the  air, 
the  wind  blowing  the  chaff  away.  A  hand-operated  fan- 
ning mill  afterwards  took  the  place  of  this  process. 

Threshing  is  now  the  picturesque  coloring  feature  of 
the  harvesting.  A  machine  and  outfit  costs  about  $3,000, 
and  it  travels  about,  from  farm  to  farm,  threshing  for  a 
certain  price  per  bushel.  In  the  center  of  the  field  the 
long,  red  thresher  stands,  and  a  hundred  feet  away,  linked 
by  a  broad  belt,  quivers  the  traction  engine.     A  loaded 


70 


Tndustrtat.-Commerctal    Geography 


wagon  stands  by  each  side  of  the  machine,  meanwhile 
two  men  pitch  the  sheaves  upon  the  self-feeder  of  the 
hungry  chattering  thing.  The  steel  arms  greedily  thresh 
it  back  and  forth  and  the  chaff  and  straw  are  blown 
through  the  long  metal  self-stacker.  Down  a  spout 
into  a  wagon-box  pour  the  sun-fiecked  kernels  of  wheat, 
which  is  hauled  to  the  farmer's  bins,  where  he  holds  it 
until  the  market  suits,  or  it  may  be  hauled  at  once  to 
the  elevator,  many  of  whicli  may  be  found  along  the 
railroads  traversino'  the  wheat  belt. 


Cuurtcsy  1  ntcriialioiuil  H ari'cstcr  Co. 
COMBINED    HARVESTER-THRESHER 


After  the  wheat  is  graded  and  weighed  it  is  elevated 
to  the  bins,  to  be  later  ship])e(l  in  freight  cars  from  this 
primary  market  to  a  terminal  market.  One  of  the 
greatest  of  these  markets  is  l)ulutli,  Minnesota.  Some 
of  the  ele\ators  there  Imld  two  niillinn  l)ushels  and  from 
them  the  grain  is  shi])ped  by  steamer  through  the  Great 
Lakes  to  Chicago,  lUiffalo.  Xew  Niir]<  ( u^  siime  Idreign 
countr\'.  However,  niil]i(ins  of  bushels  of  wheat  lie  in 
the   farmers'  bins  and   in    the   local    elexators.      hUrlnnes 


OF    Till::    LImted    States  71 

and  destinies  of  men  are  tied  up  in  it.  At  Chicago,  the 
h'ood  Market  of  the  World,  in  the  Board  of  I'rade 
huikhng-,  the  dealers,  every  day,  buy  and  sell  millions  of 
bushels  of  wheat  that  they  never  see,  and  make  fortunes 
for  people  they  never  know. 

The  Milling  Industry. — Wheat  was  first  ground  into 
ilour  between  two  stones.  The  early  colonists  har- 
nessed the  wind  and  made  it  give  motion  to  the  wheels 
which  ground  the  grain.  The  old  Dutch  windmill  was 
a  common  sight  in  this  country  until  a  decade  ago, 
when  it  entirely  gave  way  to  the  tide  of  progress.  Upon 
the  shores  of  swift-running  streams  the  early  settlers 
also  built  mills,  using  the  water  as  power.  To  these 
mills  the  peo])le  came  for  many  miles,  l)ut  these  are  also 
silenced  now  by  greater  ones.  The  center  of  the  milling 
industry  was  hrst  at  Wilmington,  Delaware,  later  at  Bal- 
tiiuore,  ]\ld.,  then  at  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  and  finally  Min- 
neapolis became  the  greatest  flour-milling  center  in  the 
entire  w^orld.  There  are,  altogether,  25,000  flour  mills 
in  the  United  States,  most  of  them  being  near  the  fields 
or  at  terminal  markets. 

A  Flour-Producing  Center. — At  Minneapolis  the 
power  is  obtained  from  ."^t.  Anthony's  Falls  for  the 
greater  part  of  the  year.  It  is  an  inspiration  to  view  the 
world's  greatest  granary.  ^Alongside  the  mammoth  steel 
elevators  the  cars  shuttle  back  and  forth,  automatic 
shovels  scoop  the  grain  from  them,  and  empty  it  into 
hoppers,  from  wdiich  it  is  lifted  to  the  top  of  the  great 
elevators  by  an  endless  chain  of  buckets.  Two  hundred 
thousand  bushels  of  wheat  pass  through  these  mills 
every  working  day  of  the  year,  issuing  forth  eighty 
thousand  barrels  of  flour.  Day  after  day  this  flood  of 
wheat  rushes  into  Minneapolis,  90,000,000  l)ushels  a 
year,  a  torrent  mightier  than  Niagara! 

Making  Flour.— In  the  first  mills  in  this  country  the 
grain   was   crushed    between   two    large    circular    stones 


^2  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

called  burr-stones.  Rut  the  hard  wheat  of  the  North 
dulled  the  corrugated  surface  of  these  stones  so  quickly 
that  they  became  useless.  Then  the  process  of  grinding 
between  steel  rolls  was  introduced  from  Hungary,  and 
this,  wath  the  invention  of  the  middlings  purifier,  has 
revolutionized  the  milling  industry  quite  as  much  as  the 
harvester  revolutionized  the  wheat  industry. 

There  are  over  one  hundred  and  fifty  separations 
made  in  handling  the  stock  from  the  time  the  wheat 
enters  the  mill  until  the  Hour  is  ready  for  the  market. 
Milling  flour  is  not  like  grinding  colTee.  After  the  grain 
is  washed  and  thoroughly  cleaned,  it  is  passed  into  steel 
heaters,  which  toughen  the  outer  covering  of  the  grain 
and  prevent  its  breaking  into  particles  and  entering  the 
flour.  The  rollers  crush  the  grain,  passing  it  through 
six  reductions  in  the  first  series,  each  reducing  it  a  little 
finer.  It  is  then  passed  through  the  bolting  machinery 
where  the  middlings  are  separated,  the  residue  being  sent 
on  to  another  set  of  rollers,  which  crush  it  more  finely, 
then  back  through  a  finer  bolting  cloth,  this  process  being 
repeated  six  times.  The  middlings  are  then  passed 
through  tlic  purifier  which  extracts  the  germs.  They 
are  then  mixed  with  the  bran  for  feed,  the  remaining 
part  of  the  middlings  being  then  finally  ground  into 
flour.  The  whole  process  is  one  of  purification.  PVom 
the  time  the  cars  are  unloaded  by  automatic  shovels,  the 
wheat,  middlings,  and  flour  are  elevated  and  conveyed 
in  all  directions  by  automatic  machinery,  without  the 
direct  intervention  of  man.  And  the  finest  flour  Ave  pro- 
duce in  this  country  goes, — not  abroad,  l)ut  into  our 
own  Immes,  to  helj)  ])ro(lucc  a  l)ctter  succeeding  gen- 
eration. 

'Jlie  harvester  has  been  called  tlie  l^arometcr  of  civ- 
ilization, as  it  is  not  fnund  where  slavery  and  barbarism 
exist.  The  only  place  where  there  is  no  call  fur  it  is  in 
those  countries  where  the  luxury  of  the  cities  is  built 
u])on   the   plunder  of  nien   and    wiinien    who   work   in   the 


OF    THE    United    States  73 

fields.  The  harvester  has  made  a  greater  advance  in 
Russia  in  recent  years  than  in  any  other  country.  More 
business  is  now  being  done  in  that  country  than 
was  done  in  the  whole  world  ten  years  ago.  In  many 
parts  of  Russia  today  farming  is  done  under  the  most 
approved  methods,  where,  a  generation  ago,  the  wooden 
plow,  the  sickle  and  the  flail  were  the  only  implements 
used. 

Wheat-Producing  Countries. — Argentina  stands  in 
the  front  rank  as  a  wheat  producing  country  today, 
although  the  crop  has  only  received  marked  attention 
there  for  about  twenty  years.  It  is  now  the  South 
American  Minnesota,  (jnly  eleven  times  larger.  Two 
million  dollars'  worth  of  harvesters  annually  go  to 
Australia,  and  along  almost  any  of  the  historic  roadways 
of  the  world  may  be  seen  American  machinery.  "On  the 
Road  to  Mandalay,"  along  the  Appian  \\'ay,  and  on  the 
trail  that  marks  the  flight  of  Napoleon  from  Moscow, 
will  be  found  these  indispensable  machines.  They  are 
cutting  wheat  on  the  battlefields  of  Austerlitz,  Sedan 
and  W^aterloo ! 

In  Mexico,  in  the  very  shadow  of  Popocatepetl, 
we  find  American  harvesters.  Mules  carry  them  over 
the  Andes,  and  the  wheelbarrow  takes  them  into  Central 
China.  They  are  for  sale  in  the  holy  cities  of  Rome, 
Jerusalem  and  Mecca  !  The  Sphinx  may  yet  look  across 
yellow  fields  where  the  American  binder  is  clickmg 
cheerfully ! 

Like  the  advance  of  the  Boers  into  the  Transvaal 
and  the  Japanese  into  Korea,  there  has  been  an  advance 
uf  three  hundred  thousand  American  farmers  into 
Western  Canada,  and  they  are  upbuilding  a  civilization 
which  assures  us  that  this  part  of  North  America  will 
be  the  wheat  land  of  tomorrow,  one  of  the  greatest  in 
the  world.  The  American  har\ester  is  much  more  than 
a  handy  device  for  cutting  grain,  it  is  a  national  emblem 
which  makes  democracy  possible. 


74  iNDUSTRIAL-CoMMEECrAL     GEOGRAPHY 

FOR   RESEARCH 

1.  Make  an  outline  map  showing  the  ''wheat  belt" 
of  the  United  States.  Make  another,  showing  the  leading 
wheat-producing  countries. 

2.  What  are  the  principal  railroads  traversing  the 
greatest  wheat-producing  areas?  Where  do  tliev  take 
the  grain?  Trace  a  car  of  wlieat  from  Central  Kansas 
to  Chicago.     From  Aberdeen,  S.  1).,  to  Minneapolis. 

3.  When  d(jes  wheat  ripen  in  the  Southern  ])art 
of  tlie  "wheat  l)elt'"?  In  Kansas?  Nel)raska?  South 
Dakota?     North  Dakota  and  Minnesota?     In  Canada? 

4.  Name  two  great  railroads  in  Canada.  What 
are  their  principal   terminals? 

5.  When  is  wheat  from  Argentina  placed  upon  the 
market?  From  Australia?  From  Russia?  From  what 
do  the  Russian  people  make  most  of  their  bread? 

6.  Why  is  the  yield,  per  acre,  of  wheat  from  two  to 
three  times  greater  in  Europe  than  in  the  United  States? 

7.  Ijetween  what  parallels  of  latitude  are  the  great- 
est wheat  countries  of  the  world  situated?     A\'hy? 

8.  Why  is  wheat  a  valuable  grain  for  food?  Make 
a  list  of  its  principal  uses. 

9.  To  what  countries  do  we  sell  our  surplus  crop? 
Trace  a  shipment  of  wheat  from  P)Ucnos  Ayres  to  Lon- 
dcni.     From  New  ^'ork  to  Calcutta. 

TO.  What  is  a  disc  harrow?  A  gang  plow?  F^rom 
what  is  l)inding  twine  made?     W'here  is  it  obtained? 

11.  Why  is  wheat  usuall\-  s^ld  in  l)ulk? 

12.  W'diere  are  oats,  rye  and  barley  grown  and  how 
do  they  compare  with  wheat  as  articles  of  food  and  from 
a  commercial  standpoint? 


OF    THE    United    States  75 


CHAPTER    IX 

RICE,   THE   ROYAL  CEREAL 

Rice  is  not  only  the  most  important  of  all  the 
cereals,  l)nt  it  is  by  far  the  most  important  of  all  food 
products.  It  is  almost  the  exxlusive  diet  of  5%  of  the 
human  race.  In  addition  to  beinij;'  the  most  extensively 
used  and  most  widely  distributed  of  the  world's  foods, 
it  produces  more  muscular  energy  and  physical  endur- 
ance than  any  other  food.  It  is  the  chief  diet  of  the 
wonderful  Japanese  soldiery,  whose  strength  compels 
the  admiratioL  and  wonder  of  the  world.  It  is  eaten 
almost  exclusi\ely  by  the  coolies  of  India  and  China, 
those  human   machines  who  can   carr>'  all   dav,  rmder  a 


European. 


a  load  that  would  stagger  an  American  or 


The  Food  Value  of  Rice. —  The  main  reason  for  the 
superiority  of  rice  over  all  other  forms  of  food  is  its 
ready  digestibility,  plain  l)oiled  rice  being  assimilated  in 
one  hour,  while  the  other  cereals,  legumes  and  meats, 
and  most  vegetables,  recjuire  from  three  and  one-half  tcj 
five  hours.  Rice  thus  enables  a  man  to  economize  fully 
75%  "f  the  time  and  energy  expended  in  the  digestion 
of  ordinary  food,  setting  it  free  to  be  used  in  his  daily 
vocation. 

Where  Rice  Is  Grown. — Rice  is  a  cereal  of  the  grass 
family.  It  is  an  annual,  reaching  two  to  five  feet  in 
height  at  maturity.  It  is  indigenous  in  certain  parts  of 
India  and  tropical  Australia.  So  far  as  is  known  it  was 
the  first  cereal  used  by  man.  The  Arvans  carried  it  with 
them  in  their  migrator}-  marches  from  the  cradle  of  the 
human   race.     It  was  introduced  into  China  about  3000 


76 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


B.  C,  and  was  grown  in  the  X'alley  of  the  Euphrates  500 
B.  C.  The  Arabs  took  it  to  Spain,  and,  sustained  by  its 
marvelous  nourishment,  planted  their  victorious  banner 
everywhere. 

It  was  introduced  into  Italy  in  1468.  Sir  William 
Berkeley  first  cultivated  it  in  A'irginia  in  1647.  Today  it 
is  grown  as  the  staple  article  of  food  by  the  millions 
of  India,  Siam,  China,  Japan  and  Africa.  In  the  Medi- 
terranean countries  and  in  the  tropical  and  semi-tropical 


L-ourtcsy  Mo.  Pac.  Rx. 
RICE    PUMP    IN    ACTION    AND    IMPROVISED    RESEK\()n< 


regions  of  North  and  South  America  it  is  cultivated  as  a 
principal  means  of  sul)sistencc.  It  was  introduced  into 
Louisiana  soon  after  the  C'ixil  War.  and.  at  the  present 
time,  the  lowlands  along  the  Mississip])i  and  Gulf  Coast 
are  practically  gi\en  o\er  to  its  culture.  In  more  recent 
years  it  has  been  carried  to  Siiuth  Carolina,  .\rkansas  and 
Texas  and  has  become  one  of  the  most  profitable  croj^s  in 
those  states. 


OF    THE    United    States  "jy 

Rice  Culture  in  the  United  States. — 1  he  advantages 
of  the  rice  grower  in  this  country,  over  others,  are  many. 
One  is  freedom  from  tax,  for,  in  Japan,  there  is  an  eight- 
dollar  per  acre  expense  for  fertilizer.  In  India  there  is 
a  $4.80  tax,  per  acre.  There  is  no  reason  why  the  United 
States  should  not  grow  and  mill  all  of  its  own  rice  and 
become  an  exporter.  The  American  grower  uses  the  im- 
proved methods  and  modern  implements  of  the  northern 
wheat  fields:  the  gang  plow,  the  self-binder  and  steam 
thresher,  together  with  a  boundless  supply  of  water  from 
the  most  modern  and  economical  machinery.  He  is  ex- 
empt from  a  large  part  of  the  labeu"  expense,  so  propor- 
tionately great  under  Oriental  methods.  The  number  of 
acres  that  can  l^e  grown  under  the  ( )riental  system,  by 
one  man,  is,  in  Jaj^an  one-half  (jf  an  acre,  in  China  one- 
half  to  two  and  one-half  acres.  In  this  coiuitry  one  man 
can  successfullv  care  for  160  acres  of  the  grain. 

Rice  Culture  in  Japan. — In  (  )riental  countries  the 
processes  of  cultivation  and  liarACSting  are  yet  carried 
on  by  the  primitive  methods  of  anti(|uity.  In  Japan,  the 
plow  is  almost  unknown.  The  soil  is  dug  up  ami  worked 
over  with  a  mattock:  sometimes  a  crude  harrow  is  used 
for  puherizing.  A  horse  or  an  (»x  may  l)e  occasir)nally 
used,  but  most  of  the  lal)or  is  by  hand.  The  rice  is  sown 
in  beds,  which  are  watered  and  carefully  tended  until 
the  plants  are  from  six  to  ten  inches  high,  Avhen  they 
are  taken  up  and  set  in  rows,  a  plant  at  a  time,  the 
fields  having  been  prepared  and  flooded  with  two  or  three 
inches  of  water.  When  mature  the  rice  is  cut  with  a 
sickle,  bound  in  small  sheaves,  and  tied  to  poles  for 
drying.  Threshing  and  winnowing  are  done  mostly  by 
hand.  In  every  mountain  \illage  in  Jai)an  may  be  found 
rice  mills  operated  by  one-man  power,  pounding  the  grain 
with  a  stone  or  wooden  pestle,  and  a  one-woman  ])ower 
at  a  crude  fanning  mill  cleans  the  grain  of  the  hulls. 
Contrast  this  with  our  modern  rice  mill  which  is  an 
automaton    of    complicated    machinery,    into    which    the 


78 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


rough  grain  passes  and  finally  appears,  ready  for  market, 
graded,  sacked  and  weighed,  at  the  rate  of  20,000  to 
200,000  pounds  per  day. 

Rice  Farming. — Rice,  in  the  field  or  in  the  sheaf, 
somewhat  resembles  oats.  h'rum  ten  to  one  hundred 
straws  grow  from  a  single  seed  and  a  single  head  con- 
tains from  one  hundred  to  four  hundred  grains.  It  is  a 
water  i)lant,  but  it  does  not  grow  in  swamps.  The  rice 
farm  must  l)e  high   and  smooth,  though  not  necessarily 


Courtesy  Cotton  Belt  Route 
A    FIELD    OF    RICE— LOUISIANA 


absolutely  lc\el.  It  nuist  be  well  drained  or  susceptil)le 
of  perfect  drainage.  A  shallow  soil  with  clay  sub-soil 
is  also  very  desirable,  in  order  that  the  water  may  l)e 
held  at  an  even  dei^th  o\er  the  entire  field.  A\'hen  the 
land  is  not  perfectly  level  the  field  is  sub-divided  into 
"cuts"  or  smaller  fields  of  from  ten  to  twenty-five  acres 
each,  and  vnch  field  is  then  leveled  so  that  the  water  may 
stand  at  al)out  the  same  de])th  o\er  each  cut.     Around 


OF    THE    United    States  79 

each  cut,  levees  are  1)uilt  to  hold  a  supply  of  water  when 
needed. 

The  levee  lines  are  usually  staked  out  to  give  a  fall 
of  from  three  to  five  inches  from  levee  to  levee.  The 
work  of  constructing-  levees  is  generally  done  after  the 
seed  is  sown,  and  recjuires  little  time.  Water  is  not  used 
until  the  rice  is  six  or  eight  inches  high.  In  some  sections 
the  A\ater  supply  is  obtained  from  the  streams,  thnmgh 
canals,  hut  in  most  cases  the  farmer  operates  his  own 
well  and  pum])iug  plant.  Sometimes  pumping-  companies 
water  many  farms  from  one  plant  and  charge  the  farn-icr 
one-fifth  of  the  crop  for  water.  A  well,  fitted  with  an 
eight-inch  centrifugal  pump,  will  throw  a  stream  of  water 
sufficient  for  a  160-acre  field. 

Soil  Culture  For  Rice. — In  preparing  the  soil  for 
planting  rice  the  same  methods  are  followed  as  for  wheat 
or  oats.  The  ground  is  plowed  with  an  ordinary  sulky 
or  gang  plow  and  pulverized  with  a  disc  harrow.  The 
seed  is  then  drilled  with  a  press  drill.  About  one-third 
of  a  barrel  of  rice  seed  is  rccjuired  to  plant  an  acre.  The 
sowing  time  is  from  March  to  May — the  earlier  the  bet- 
ter. When  the  rice  stalk  is  from  six  to  eight  inches  high 
the  water  is  turned  on  and  kept  at  a  depth  of  from  four 
to  six  inches  for  sixty  or  seventy  days.  Some  farmers 
think  it  best  to  drain  their  fields  for  a  few  hours,  perhaps 
for  a  day,  about  four  times  during  the  growing  season. 
This  gives  the  sun  a  chance  to  warm  the  roots  and  per- 
mits of  a  supply  of  fresh  water  over  the  entire  field. 

When  the  rice  is  headed  out,  and  the  golden  tint 
begins  to  supplant  the  green  in  the  stem  and  blade,  har- 
vest time  is  near  at  hand.  The  flood  gates  are  thrown 
open  and  the  field  is  thoroughly  drained.  The  beautiful 
golden  grain  is  then  harvested  with  self-binders  and 
shocked  and  stacked  exactly  like  wheat  and  oats.  1lie 
threshing  is  done  in  the  same  manner,  but  that  machine 
leaves  the  "grain  in  the  hull"  called  "paddy"  and  is  sim- 
ilar to  threshed  oats. 


8o 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


The  rice  is  now  sacked  and  sent  to  the  rice  mill, 
where,  by  a  special  milling-  process,  the  hull  is  removed 
and  the  pearly  grain  made  ready  for  table  use.  'i'his  last 
process  is  unnecessary,  but  the  American  rice-buying 
public  is  guided  almost  entirely  by  looks  when  making 
retail  ])urchases.  The  rice  is  put  through  a  ])()lishing 
process  and  coated  with  ]:)araffine  and  talcum  j^owder. 
Chemical  analysis  shows  that  it  therel)y  loses  eleven  per 
cent,  in  proteids  and  sixty-five  per  cent,  in  fat.  If  Amer- 
ican  users  could   learn   what   the   Orientals  have   known 


Courtesy  Cotton  Belt  Route 
CUTTING    RICE    WITH     SELF-BINDERS 

for  centuries,  that  the  best  rice  does  not  glisten  but  has 
a  dull,  ])owdered  appearance,  then  the  first  stej)  would 
ha\e  been  taken  toward  the  rational  use,  in  this  countrv, 
of  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  foods. 

The  area  suscei)til)le  of  actual  cultixation  in  rice  in 
the  United  States  is  a])pro.\imatcly  1,250,000  acres.  The 
present  area  in  culti\  atif  m,  450,000  acres,  jiroduces  about 
one-half  of  the  amount  of  rice  we  consume.  (  )ur  rate  of 
consinn])tion  is  iucreasiug  20,000,000  ])ounds  ])er  \-ear, 
vvhitdi  would  indicate  that  it  will  be  se\'eral  \ears  before 
we    pro(luce   euough    rice   to   supply    e\en    otn-    home    de- 


OF     THE     UnITKD     StATES 


8  I 


mand.  The  industry  has  assumed  greatest  proportions 
in  Texas,  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Mississippi  and  other 
Southern  states. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  Wliy  is  intensi\"e  farming'  so  extensively  prac- 
tised in  japan  and  China? 

2.  What  are  the  principal  differences  in  the  methods 
used  in  planting  and  cultivating  rice  in  this  country  and 
in  Oriental  countries? 


^^5^^(^^^ 


;,^t:.:-^...,  -..JH^.. 


Conrtcsv  Mo.  Pac.  Rv. 


THRESHING    RICE 


3.  Why  are  the  lowlands  of  the  Southern  states 
particularly  adapted  to  the  growing  of  rice? 

4.  W'ould  American  methods  be  practical  in  China 
and  Japan?  Is  there  any  possibility  that  they  will  ever 
be  adopted  ? 

5.  What  effort  has  been  made  to  introduce  Amer- 
ican harvesting  machinery  into  these  countries? 

6.  Obtain  samples  of  head  rice,  oats,  barley,  rye  and 
wheat  and  compare  them.  Which  of  these  thresh  out 
clean  and  wdiich  retain  the  husk  like  rice? 

7.  What  is  paddy?  How  is  it  treated  in  Oriental 
CI  lUiUries? 

8.  ^\'hat  is  the  \alue  of  rice  as  a  foodstuff? 

9.  On  a  map  of  the  world,  locate  the  principal  rice- 
producing  countries. 


82 


InDUSTRIAL-CoM  MERCIAL     GEOGRAPHY 


CHAPTER    X 

THE   GRAIN    MARKET 

The  outlet  for  the  farmer's  surplus  grain  is  found 
chiefly  through  the  grain  dealer,  who  operates  an  ele- 
vator, and  who  represents  what  is  commonly  known  as 
the  local  market.     This   market    is   operated   upon   grain 


Courtesy  International  Harz-estcr  Co. 
THRESHING   WHEAT    WITH    FLAILS 


cjuutations  from  the  Board  of  Trade  of  the  City  of  Chi- 
cago. 

The  statement  is  frc(|uently  made  that  the  specu- 
lative market  has  much  to  do  in  regulating-  values. 
While  it  may  be  that  this  market  docs  influence  values, 
in  a  way,  the  most  potent  factnr  in  determining  values 
is  the  law  of  Supply  and  Jh'iiuind.  Many  attempts  ha\c 
been  made  to  oxerthrow  the  power  of  this  law,  but,  even 
though  artificial  values  have  l)eeu  made  and  maintained 
for  a  time,  prices  have  always  sought  the  old  level.  It 
is,  therefore,  very  essential  for  the  ])roducer  to  have  an 


OF    THI-:    United    States 


83 


intelligent  knowledge  of  crop  statistics  and  understand 
some  of  the  reasonably  reliable  methods  for  determining 
values  in  this  remarkable  branch  of  commerce,  which 
has  grown  to  such  gigantic  proportions  that  scarcely 
any  one  can  fully  comprehend  them. 

The  chief  grain  crops  of  this  country  fix  rates  of 
interest,  determine,  largely,  rates  of  transportation,  meas- 
ure the  extent  of  credits  gi\en  l:)y  merchants  and  bankers 
and  place  a  proper  value  upon  all  kinds  of  collateral. 
Chicago  is  the  great  central  market,  the  grain  clearing- 
house of  the  world.  Behind  the  manipulations  of  the 
market   of   this    city   are   the   grain    crops    of   the   entire 


^^^^^^<Bjt.v"Sa^!»«i«K-' 


■■«aK!a«J^-A(k.A.,^i 


-^    .  ..^.Sm4r 


Courtesy  International  Harvester  Co. 
A    MODERN    THRESHER,    KANSAS 


world.  Here  is  collected  all  information  regarding  crops 
and  their  movement,  on  tlie  bulletins  of  the  Board  of 
Trade  are  posted  the  prices  of  wheat,  corn,  oats  and  pro- 
visions in  every  market  throughout  the  world.  This 
information  is  given  out  for  the  benefit  of  the  producer 
and  consumer  alike,  for  the  business  is  conducted  free 
from  restraint  of  trade. 

Every  exchange  must  be  for  cash,  as  it  has  no  credit 
system.  The  breadth  and  activity  of  tlic  market  give  to 
registered  warehouse  receipts  an  instant  negotiable  \'alue. 
"Short"  and  "call"  loans,  made  on  these  warehouse  re- 
ceipts, protected  by  law  and  recognized  by  the  rules  of 


84 


Industrial-Commerc  lAL    Geography 


the   Board,   are  regarded  as   very   desirable  by   the    Na- 
tional banks. 

Some  idea  of  the  vastness  of  this  grain  business  may 
be  gained  when  we  consider  that  all  of  the  gold  mines  of 
the  world  have  not  produced  a  greater  value  than  the 
farmers  produced  in  two  years.  This  year's  product  is 
worth  over  six  times  the  amount  of  the  capital  stock 
of  all  National  banks;  it  is  worth,  approximately,  three 
times  the  value  of  all  minerals  produced  in  this  country, 
including  coal,  iron-ore,  gold,  silver,  and  quarried  stone. 


Courlcsy  It'aslibiinic-Croshy  to. 
INTERIOR    FLOUR    MILL,    MINNEAPOLIS 


]\Ian\'  ])en])lc  seem  to  think  thai  tlie  terms,  lioard  of 
Trade,  cash  selling,  future  options,  s])eculation,  bucket- 
sho])ping  and  gambling  are  synon\  nious.  This  is  a  very 
prejudiced  opinion  which  should  be  corrected,  for  young 
men  connected  with  the  stock  market  should  not  feel 
that  they  have  to  go  through  life  identified,  either  di- 
rectl\-  or  indirectlx,   with  gambling  institutions. 

Cash    sales    ami    future    o])tions    are    the    legitimate 


or    THE    United    States  85 

forms  of  trading-,  recognized  by  the  highest  conrts  as  a 
safe  and  legitimate  means  of  seUing  and  distri!>iiflii_!^  our 
surplus  farm  crops.  (  )f  course  sales  are  identitied  with 
the  speculative  market,  but  in  this,  as  in  all  other  lines 
of  l)usiness,  it  is  very  difficult  to  draw  the  line  between 
legitimate  business  risks  and  speculation.  The  fact  that 
men  take  advantage  of  these  forms  of  trading  is  evidence 
of  its  similarity  to  most  other  forms  of  business,  and  it 
must  be  ex])ected  that  it  may  be  abused.  "Bucket-shop- 
])ing"'  is  a  form  of  alleged  trading  that  is  purely  a  gam- 
bling proposition.  Such  transactions  are  simply  bets 
that  the  market  will  fluctuate  one  way  or  the  other,  and 
the  bets  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  scalpers  who  pretend 
to  register  them  by  telegraph  upon  Board  of  Tra'de 
quotations.  The  keepers  undertake  to  execute  their 
deals,  charging  a  commission  of  25  per  cent.,  wdiich  must 
be  paid,  no  matter  which  w^ay  the  market  fluctuates. 
It  is  well  for  the  uninitiated  to  remember  that  the 
Board  of  Trade  does  not  buy,  neither  does  it  sell,  nor 
make  the  price,  for  either  buyer  or  seller,  upon  any 
commodity  whatever.  It  simply  maintains  an  exchange 
hall  and  enacts  a  code  of  rules  go\erning  the  action  of  its 
members.  The  indii'ithnil  members,  trading  upon  the  ex- 
change, fix  all  prices. 

In  addition  to  the  "cash"  market  for  grain  and  pro- 
visions the  Board  ])ro\ides  a  market  for  "future  deliv- 
ery" of  all  such  ])ro(lucts.  The  grain  dealer  bases  his 
prices  to  the  producer  upon  market  ([notations,  allowing 
for  his  profit  and  the  freight.  Suppose  he  buys  5,000 
])ushels  of  wheat  to-day;  he  will  then  wire  his  commis- 
sion merchant  to  sell,  upon  the  Board,  5,000  bushels, 
wdiich  he  is  buying.  He  may  advise  selling  for  "im- 
mediate shipment"  which  allows  him  three  business  days 
in  which  to  deliver  the  wheat  upon  the  Chicago  market. 
"Quick  shipment"  allows  him  live  business  days,  "prompt 
shipment"  allows;  him  ten  business  days.  Should  the 
wheat  be  damp  or  not  fit  for  shipment  he  may  sell  for 


86 


Industrial-Com mercial    Geography 


"June"  delivery,  store  the  wheat  until  then,  when  the 
order  may  be  filled.  The  Board,  therefore,  affords  him 
a  market  for  his  wheat  that  is  ready  to  sell,  and,  like- 
wise, provides  a  market  af  oiicc  for  grain  that  it  is  more 
desirable  to  hold  until  June,  July  or  some  other  months. 
This  plan  also  eliminates  the  risk  that  would  otherwise 
be  encountered  while  the  grain  is  in  transit,  and  affords 
a  market  for  the  buyer  as  soon  as  he  purchases  from 
the  farmer.     Therefore,  "cash"  trades  and  "futures"  are 


■nil': 


i'diirtcsy  Chicai/o  Bd.  of  Tnuic 
'IT,"     CMIKACO— WORLD'S     CKEATEST     MARKF/I' 


closely  identified  with  our  e\ery-day  markets.  Instead 
of  "futures"  proving  a  spcculatix'c  form  of  trading  for 
the  grain  dealer,  it  is  just  the  oi)pt)sitc,  he  sells  futures 
to  avoid  speculating"  on  the  market. 

A  large  percentag'e  of  the  wheat  sohl  b}-  tlie  farmers 
goes  direct  to  the  mills.  These  arc  located  in  ahnosi 
every  town  and  city,  the  greatest  mills  in  ilir  world,  and 
the  cenlvr  of  the  milling  imlu>lr\  bring  at  Minneapolis. 
These  nulls  arc  u>uall\    on   iln'   ni;ivkct   for  wlu'.-it,  and   a 


OF    THE    United    States  87 

supply  sufficient  to  run  them  throughout  the  year  neces- 
sitates a  large  investment  during  the  summer  months. 
They  do  not  need  all  of  the  wheat  at  once,  but  they  must 
take  it  when  the  farmers  are  ready  to  sell,  or  it  will 
go  to  the  grain  dealer. 

In  self-defense,  we  will  suppose  a  miller  buys  50,000 
bushels  of  wheat  and  pays  for  it.  He  can  grind  but 
500  bushels  per  day,  l)ut  he  feels  that  he  must  buy  and 
save  the  freight  that  he  would  have  to  stand,  should  the 
wheat  be  shipped  away  and  back  again.  If  the  price  is 
80C.  it  costs  him  $40,000.  If  the  market  should  decline 
two  cents  per  bushel  the  miller's  loss  would  be  $1,000. 
In  order  to  protect  himself  against  a  declining-  market  he 
sells  "futures"  upon  the  Chicago  Board  of  Trade  to  the 
extent  of  50,000  bushels.  "Future"  trading  is  always 
dune  in  lots  of  5,000  bushels  which  facilitates  trading. 
He,  therefore,  sells  ten  "lots"  of  wheat  for  delivery  any 
month  in  the  future  he  may  select.  The  $1,000  loss  that 
he  might  sustain  on  the  wheat  that  he  holds  is  "hedged" 
by  the  gain  he  would  make  on  the  "futures"  that  he  has 
sold.  The  "future"  market  is  nearly  always  in  sympathy 
with  the  "cash"  market.  Should  the  future  market  ad- 
vance 2c.,  the  miller  would  profit  $1,000  on  the  cash 
wheat  that  he  holds,  but  he  would  lose  the  same  amount 
on  the  "future"  that  he  his  sold.  If  he  has  ground  part 
of  the  wheat  into  flour  that  is  unsold,  the  protection  ex- 
ists, just  the  same,  as  the  quotations  on  wheat  and  flour 
are  always  sympathetic.  Instead  of  the  miller  speculat- 
ing upon  the  Board  of  Trade,  he  has  simply  insured 
himself  against  the  fluctuations  of  the  market. 

Selling  "futures"  may  be  likened  to  the  dairyman's 
contract  to  supply  milk  during"  the  entire  year,  his  tickets 
corresponding  to  the  grain  dealer's  warehouse  receipts. 
Neither  can  have  the  entire  quantity  on  hand  at  any  one 
time,  and  the  purchaser  would  not  know  what  to  do  with 
it  if  he  had  it,  but  each  will  secure  the  quantity  needed 
frum  time  to  time  to  fill  the  contract. 


88 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


A^'isitors  watching  operations  in  the  "Pit"  at  Chicago 
usually  fail  to  detect  definite  business  transactions  amid 
such  turmoil,  but  the  trader  sees  the  fierce  determina- 
tion of  the  "bulls"  to  sell  at  the  highest  price  or  of  the 
"bears"  to  buy  at  the  lowest.  Speech  is  not  onlv  im- 
possible, but  an  attempt  to  speak  is  useless,  although  the 
brokers  produce  the  ceaseless  din  by  calling  out  their  bids 
as  loudly  as  possible.  The  sign  trading  of  the  "pit"  is 
\ery  simple.      \\"hen   a  buyer  signals  that   he   will   take 


Photograph  by  L.  C.  Rusinisci 
"THE    CONSUMER" 


"50  wheat  at  90,"  he  means  50,000  bushels  of  wheat  at 
90c.  The  seller,  in  rei)ly,  holds  his  right  hand  with  the 
index  finger  extended  horizontally  which  means  that  he 
wants  (joysc  The  buyer  signals  back  "^."  The  two 
traders  note  the  transaction  on  their  cards,  and,  after 
leaving  the  pit.  meet  and  check  the  operation.  The 
clenched  fist  represents  the  ])rice  in  e\en  cents,  each 
finger  representing  one-eighth  up  to  live-eighths.  The 
extended  hand  with  the  fingers  close  together  means 
three-fourths,  and  the  thuml),  only,  sij^nals  seven-eighths. 


OF    THK    Umtki)    States  89 

The     whole     hand     displayed     vertically     means     25,000 
bushels,  eaeh  finger  counting  5,000  bushels. 

During'  business  hours  the  excitement  is  intense,  es- 
pecially when  some  speculator  is  trying  to  "corner"  the 
market.  At  such  a  time,  should  you  enter  the  main  hall 
of  the  hLxchange  lluilding,  the  situation  will  seem  tragic 
in  the  extreme,  the  noise  is  deafening,  and  you  will  a])- 
])reciate  the  descri])tion  b}'  I' rank  Xorris,  in  his  book, 
"Idle  I 'it,"  which  is  a  very  interesting  bit  of  liction. 
"What  do  we  know  of  that  other  existence  of  these  men 
of  the  "p'^'  ^vhich  the}-  ])ass  through  while  trading  is 
at  its  best?  The  gentle-mannered  fellow,  clear-minded, 
clean-handed,  of  the  breakfast  or  dinner  table  was  one 
man,  the  other,  whf)  and  what  was  he?  Down  there  in 
the  dust  and  din  of  Chicago's  great  business  district 
raged  the  liattle  of  the  Pit,  and  therein  he  was  being 
transformed,  case-hardened,  supremely  selfish,  asking  no 
(|uarler;  no,  nor  giving  any.  Fouled  with  the  clutchings 
and  grapplings  of  the  attack,  besmirched  with  the  elbow- 
ings  of  associates  and  allies,  he  set  his  feet  towards  con- 
quest, and  mingled  with  the  marchings  of  an  army  that 
surged  forever  forward  and  back;  now  in  merciless  as- 
sault, beating  the  fallen  enemy  under  foot,  now  in  re- 
pulse, eiiuall}-  merciless,  tram])ling  down  the  auxiliaries 
of  the  day  before,  in  a  panic  dash  for  safety,  always  sel- 
fish, always  pitiless."  While  this  great  drama  of  busi- 
ness may  not  a])])eal  to  all  in  exactly  the  same  light,  it 
is  clear  that  the  "I'it"  is  no  place  for  sentiment  and  the 
shrewdest  are  the  most  successful. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  How  has  Chicago  become  the  center  of  the  grain 
trade  in  this  country? 

2.  What  are  the  current  prices  of  wheat,  C(jrn,  oats, 
and  barle_\-  today  ? 

3.  What    is    meant    by:     No.    i    red?      A    corner? 
"Hulls"   and    "iJears"?      ITitures?      Margin?      A    ticker? 


90  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

4.  How  is  membership  on  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Trade  regulated?  A\'hat  other  products  arc  sold  there 
besides  grains? 

5.     What   is   a   "bucket   shop"?     Describe   its   opera- 
tions.    Is  such  trading  legal? 

6.  Describe  a  Avarehouse  receipt?  What  is  its  value 
at  a  bank? 

7.  lias  any  one  ever  "cornered"  the  grain  market? 
Describe  some  recent  attempts. 

8.  \\'hich  is  worth  the  most  upon  the  market,  hard 
wheat  or  soft  wheat,  of  the  same  grade? 

9.  How  does  the  grain  market  affect  the  live  stock 
market? 

10.  \\  hat  circumstances  might  cause  a  flurry  in  the 
grain  market?  How  is  it  influenced  by  the  encroach- 
ment of  insect  pests,  rust,  dry  or  wet  seasons? 

II.     What  is  meant  b}-  l)uying  "shorts"? 

12.  Write  the  Secretary  of  the  Chicago  Board  of 
Trade  for  any  information  you  may  desire. 


OF    THE    United    .States 


91 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE    PRODUCTION    AND    MANU- 
FACTURE  OF   SUGAR 

The  history  of  the  sugar  industry  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  chapters  in  the  development  of  our  resources. 
For  centuries  sugar  was  regarded  as  a  luxury,  but  it  is 


Courtesy  M.,  K.  &  T.  Ry.  Co. 
A    FIELD    OF    SUGAR    CANE 

now  considered  a  necessity.  The  Jesuits  first  introduced 
sugar  into  Louisiana  in  175  r,  but  it  was  not  until  1795, 
when  Etienne  de  llore  de\'eloped  an  improved  method 
of  extraction,  that  it  became  a  merchantable  article.  In 
those  days  tlie  mills  were  driven  by  horse  or  cattle  power, 
but  dc  Bore's  success  attracted  additional  capital  to  be 
used  in  de\'eloping'  the  new  industry.  Steam  mills  were 
introduced,  and  from  that  time  the  progress  of  the  in- 
dustry was  rapid.  Cuba  and  the  West  India  islands  are 
better  adapted  for  the  growing  of  sugar  cane  than  any 


92  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

oUier  part  of  the  world.  Each  year  the  United  States 
consumes  about  3,643,000  tons  of  sugar.  Of  this  amount 
about  390,000  tons  come  from  the  Louisiana  and  Texas 
cane  fields,  500,000  tons  from  American  Ijeet  sugar  fields, 
700,000  tons  from  our  island  possessions,  and  the  balance 
from  Cuba  and  foreign  countries. 

Consumption  of  Sugar. — The  general  consumption  of 
sugar  in  the  United  States  grows  faster  than  that  of  any 
other  product,  doubling  about  every  twenty  years.  ( )n 
the  average,  every  man,  woman  and  child  uses,  in  some 
form,  eighty-two  pounds  of  sugar  per  year,  which  is  a 
greater  consumption,  per  capita,  than  in  any  other  coun- 
try except  England. 

Planting  Sugar. — The  ground  is  prepared  for  plant- 
ing sugar  cane  as  for  any  other  product,  and  the  cuttings 
(sections  of  the  stalk  containing  a  joint)  are  planted  in 
rows  about  six  feet  apart.  As  it  is  a  perennial  plant  it 
does  not  require  frequent  planting,  some  of  the  fields 
yielding  well  for  from  five  to  fifteen  years.  The  stalks 
grow  from  three  to  twehe  feet  high  and  o\-er  an  inch  in 
diameter,  long  slender  lea\es  growing  profusely  from  the 
bamboo-like  joints.  The  ripening  season  is  in  the  early 
spring  and  the  mills  run  night  and  day  to  care  for  all 
the  croji  Ijefore  the  rainy  season  interferes. 

Harvesting  Sugar. — The  cane  is  cut  close  to  the  top 
of  the  ground  with  a  machete  and  hauled  to  the  mills  in 
large  carts  drawn  by  oxen.  There  it  is  placed  in  a  great 
trough,  in  the  bottom  of  which  is  an  endless  chain  which 
carries  it  thrcnigh  the  crusher,  and  the  juice  falls  into  the 
receivers  below.  The  crushed  cane  is  called  bagarjo  and 
is  dried  for  fuel.  From  the  receiving  tanks  the  green 
juice  runs  into  vats  called  defecators,  where  it  is  heated 
by  steam  from  the  engine.  Tlii--  first  heating  causes  a 
dark  scum   to  rise  to  the  to]),   wlicre  it  is  skimmed   off. 

.After  passing  through  a  series  of  these  defecators,  the 
juice   enters   a   train   of  caldrons — deep   copper    \als    well 


OF    THE    United    States 


93 


heated.  When  the  juice,  which  is  now  syrup,  reaches 
the  last  caldron  it  l)ecomes  crystallized,  and  runs  into 
smaller  pans  called  coolers.  It  now  looks  vcvv  lirown, 
almost  black,  and  is  called  raw  sugar.  Jt  is  ne.xt  put  into 
hogsheads,  in  the  ends  of  which  are  several  round  holes. 
These  hogsheads  are  stood  on  end  over  citpper  receivers, 
which  catch  all  the  drippings.  These  drippings  are  the 
molasses  of  c<Tmmerce. 


x^    ■      % 


I'hotograph  by  L.  L.  Rnsiniscl 

c;athi:rin(;  ?^iArLK  sap 


Refining  Sugar. — At  the  refineries  the  hogsheads  are 
emptied  o\er  a  grating  and  the  sugar  drops  into  melting 
pans.  After  heating  and  melting  the  licfuid  is  passed  to 
another  vat,  where  it  is  tested  for  temperature  and  den- 
sity, after  which  it  is  strained  to  remove  the  largest 
])articles  of  coarse  foreign  matter,  then  it  is  filtered 
several  times  through  a  mixture  ol  hiuMit  hone  and  char- 
coal. T*ractically  all  the  bone  supply  from  the  packing- 
houses is  used  at  the  sugar  refineries  for  filtering.  From 
the  filters  the  licjuid  passes  to  the  vacuum  pans,  where 


94 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


it  is  crystallized,  and  thence  to  the  centrifugal  hlter, 
which  revolves  from  600  to  1200  times  per  minute.  This 
machine  catches  the  syrup  in  a  receptacle  for  the  ])ur- 
pose.  The  sugar,  when  thoroughly  ilry,  is  then  molded 
into  cubes  and  sold  as  loaf  sugar,  ^r  is  pulverized  or 
granulated. 

The  Beet  Sugar  Industry. — A  clear  understanding  of 
the  possibilities  and  profits  in  raising  sugar  beets,  and  a 
study  of  the    most   approved   methods   of   their   culture. 


Courtesy  Union  Pac.  Ry.  Co. 
sugar    beets— western    NEBRASKA 

would  annually  divert  millions  of  dollars  of  American 
money  from  the  foreign  cane  growers  to  the  American 
farmers,  provided  legislation  is  enacted  to  protect  the 
growers  fri  mi  existing  circumstances.  Under  proper  con- 
ditions sugar  beets  can  be  very  successfully  grown  in 
many  parts  of  the  United  States.  They  have  been  proven 
a  very  successful  crop,  particularly  in  the  sandv  and  arid 
regions. 

There  are  many  factories  for  the  manufacture  of  beet 
sugar  in  California,  Nebraska,  Michigan,  Utah,  Colorado 


OF    THE    United    States 


95 


and  several  other  states.  The  l)eets  require  careful  cul- 
ture and  a  \'ast  amount  of  labor,  especiall\-  during  the 
thinning-  and  pulling  seasons.  On  accoimt  of  the  peculiar 
shape  of  the  seed  it  must  be  drilled  entirely  too  thick 
and  the  plants  "chopped  out"  by  hand,  like  young  cotton. 

Making  Beet  Sugar. — After  ])ulling,  by  aid  of  a 
])eculiarl\-  shaped  i)lo\v,  the  roots  are  to])])cd  and  hauled 
to  the  sugar  factory,  which  is  supplied  through  a  system 
of   contracts,   these    ha\in<'    been    signed    bv    the    farmers 


Courtesy  So.  Pacific  Ry.  Co. 

i;ki-:ts  at  refinery— oxnakd,  calif. 


at  the  beginning  of  the  season.  At  the  factory  the  beets 
are  thoroughly  washed,  sliced  into  long  grooved  pieces, 
resembling  the  letter  "V."  These  slices  are  placed  into 
large  iron  vessels,  and  covered  with  water  at  i6o  de- 
grees  Fahrenheit.  The  juice  is  extracted  by  what  is 
termed  the  diffusion  process,  .\fter  ])assing  through  a 
series  of  these  vessels,  the  contents  are  ]n'essed  to  remove 
the  liquid  and  the  pulp  is  fed  to  stock.  Most  of  the 
factories  keep  large  herds  of  cattle  which  they  fatten 
from  this  pulp  during  the  refming  season.  After  the 
juice  is  extracted  from  the  beets  the  following  processes 


96  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

are  very  similar  to  those  through  which  tlie  cane  juice 
is  subjected,  as  mentioned  before. 

Beet  and  cane  sugar  show  the  same  chemical  analy- 
sis, but  it  is  generally  conceded  that  the  beet  product 
lacks  sweetness  and  should  l)e  sold  for  less  than  corre- 
sponding grades  of  cane  sugar.  Partially  fill  a  glass  with 
sugar,  cover  it  with  water,  and  allow  it  to  stand  several 
hours.    If  a  blue  scum  api:)ears,  you  have  beet  sugar. 

Maple  Sugar. — The  demand  for  maple  sugar,  on  ac- 
count of  its  peculiar  flavor,  will  always,  perhaps,  be 
greater  than  the  su])ply.  Until  the  passage  of  the  recent 
Pure  Food  Laws  ]jure  maple  sugar  and  syrup  were 
almost  displaced  Ijv  substitutions  and  adulterations,  and 
these  are  still  on  the  market  under  misleading  names. 
The  industry  has  assumed  commercial  proportions  in 
several  Northern  states.  A^rmont,  New  York,  Ohio  and 
Indiana  taking  the  lead.  Pure  maple  syrup  cannot  be 
sold  for  less  than  al)out  $1.50  per  gallon,  but  pure  "maple 
flavor"  syrup  may  be  bought  for  a  dollar.  A  resident  of 
Indiana  has  a  patent  upon  a  process  whereby  he  obtains 
a  maple  flavor  from  hickory  bark.  It  may  also  be  ob- 
tained by  boiling  corncobs  in  water,  to  which  solution  is 
added  enough  brown  sugar  to  produce  the  proper  con- 
sistency. 

The  maple  sugar  season  ranges  from  February  to 
April,  de])ending  upon  the  latitude.  When  the  season 
"opens"  at  the  beginning  of  the  first  thaws  in  the  spring, 
the  hard  maple  trees  are  "tapped"  by  boring  holes,  into 
which  wood  or  metal  "spiles"  or  spouts  are  drix'cn.  The 
saj)  will  then  drip  into  a  vessel  placed  below.  When 
filled  these  are  carried  or  emptied  into  barrels,  and  hauled 
to  the  "sugar  house""  where  the  sa])  is  e\aporated  in  o])en 
])ans  or  in  the  modern  e\aporators.  W  hile  in  some  locali- 
ties this  industr}-  has  been  de\elo])ed  ui)on  a  large  scale, 
the  bulk  of  the  snpp]\-  of  real  maple  sugar  and  syrup 
comes  from  farm^  where  the  families  suppK  the  labor, 
and  the  e(|ui])ment  is  very  priniitixx'. 


OF    THE    United    States 


97 


Sugar  is  also  obtained  from  several  other  sources, 
the  chief  aiming  these  ])cing  the  grape  and  corn.  Glu- 
cose, used  in  the  manufacture  of  candies  and  all  kinds  of 
confections,  is  a  i)ure  corn  product.  Much  hrdwn  sugar 
and  syrup  is  also  made  of  corn  and  is  of  good  quality. 
Aside  from  the  economic  and  commercial  sides  of  the 
studv  of  this  industry  there  is  an  unlimited  opportunity 
for  the  stu(l>-  of  geography  by  locating  the  areas  of  pro- 
duction in   all   parts  of  the  world,   considering  the  con- 


Court  csy  So.  Pacific  Ry.  Co. 
SUGAR    REFINERY— CALIFORNIA 

ditions  existing  there  and   facilities  necessary  to  deliver 
the  prcjduct  to  the  door  of  the  consumer. 


FOR    RESEARCH 

I.  AA'liat  parts  of  the  United  States  are  best  adapted 
for  beet  sugar  production?  Vor  the  production  of  sugar 
cane?  Tint  these  sections  upon  an  outline  map.  Also 
shade  the  sections  where  maple  sugar  is  produced. 


98  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

2.  Contrast  conditions  existing  upon  sugar  plan- 
tations in  this  country  and  in  Cuba  and  the  Philippines. 

3.  The  most  important  refineries  are  at  Brooklyn, 
Jersey  City,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Baltimore,  New  Or- 
leans and  San  Francisco.  Give  reasons  for  their  location. 
Indicate  their  location  upon  your  map  and  draw  lines  to 
represent  the  railroad  or  steamship  lines  used  to  trans- 
port the  raw  product. 

4.  The  average  consumption  of  sugar,  per  capita,  in 
this  country  is  about  seventy-five  pounds.  How  much 
would  ninety  million  people  use  in  a  year?  AAHiat  would 
it  be  worth  at  five  cents  per  pound? 

5.  A\'hy  do  the  prices  of  sugar  and  tin  plate  rise 
and  fall  together?  At  what  season  of  the  year  are  they 
highest?     Why? 

6.  What  efifect  has  the  introduction  of  the  sugar 
beet  into  this  country  had  ui)on  tlie  sugar  market?  Of 
what  country  is  the  sugar  beet  a  native?  AMiat  is  its 
general  appearance? 

7.  Obtain  specimens  of  gramdated  and  lirown 
sugars,  of  dififerent  grades,  and  examine  them  under  a 
magnifying  glass?  \\'h\-  can  one  merchant  sell  more 
])i)iin(ls  of  granulated  sugar  for  a  dollar  than  another? 

8.  Learn  the  difference  Ijctween  hard  and  soft  maple 
trees?  When  is  maple  syrup  or  sugar  made?  Why  has 
ihc  price  of  these  ])roducts  advanced  within  recent  years? 

9.  How  does  corn  sugar  or  syrup  compare  in  (piality 
with  that  obtained  from  sugar  cane  or  the  beet?  What 
railroad  line  would  carry  a  shipment  of  corn  s}rup  from 
Chicago  to  a  candy  factory  at  Cincinnati? 

TO.  What  railroad  lines  would  carry  a  shipment  of 
beet  sugar  from  Garden  City,  Kansas,  to  Butte,  ^Montana? 
A  shipment  of  cane  sugar  from  New  Orleans  to  Chicago? 


OF    TTTR    United    States  99 


CHAPTER    XII 

COFFEE,    TEA   AND    COCOA 

Wliilc  the  coffee  plant  does  not  grow  in  the  United 
States,  and  its  production  is  not  a  North  American  in- 
dustry, our  people  are  the  greatest  coft'ee  drinkers  in  the 
world,  annually  importing  more  than  one  billion  pounds, 
or  an  average  of  over  eleven  pounds  per  capita.  Ger- 
many is  our  nearest  rival,  using  six  pounds  per  capita, 
while  the  people  of  the  British  Empire  each  use  less 
than  one  pound,  as  they  are  the  greatest  users  of  tea 
in  the  world.  In  Australia  the  per-capita  consumption 
of  tea  is  eight  pounds,  while  in  Great  Britain  and  Can- 
ada the  average  is  over  six  pounds. 

All  beverages  derived  from  plants  owe  their  popu- 
larity to  their  stimulating  effects.  In  coff'ee  this  prin- 
ciple is  called  caifcin,  in  tea  it  is  called  taiiiiiii. 

The  coffee  plant  is  probably  a  native  of  Abyssinia, 
and  its  culture  was  confined  to  Arabia  until  about  the 
eighteenth  century,  when  it  was  introduced  into  the 
Dutch  East  Indies.  It  is  now  cultivated  in  all  tropical 
countries,  chief  among  these  being  Africa,  Madagascar, 
Ceylon,  India,  Brazil,  Venezuela,  Central  America,  the 
West  Indies  and  Mexico. 

The  coft'ee  of  commerce  is  the  seed  of  a  berry  grown 
u])()n  a  small  tree.  In  its  native  state  the  tree  may  be- 
come forty  feet  high,  but  the  groves  are  generally  pruned 
down  to  about  eight  feet  in  height,  for  convenience  in 
picking.  The  trees  arc  usually  planted  in  rows,  about 
eight  feet  apart,  in  each  direction.  The  most  famous 
coffees  have  always  come  frnm  Mocha,  Java  and  Suma- 
tra, although  about  half  of  all  the  coft'ee  used  in  the  world 
comes  from  South  America. 


lOO 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


The  trees  begin  to  bear  when  three  or  four  years 
old,  and  at  seven  they  are  in  full  bearin"-,  each  tree 
yielding-  from  three  to  four  pounds.  The  tree  has  a 
profusion  of  dark  green  leaves,  the  fruit,  or  berry,  being 
much  like  our  cherry,  in  appearance.  The  berries,  when 
ripe,  are  dark  red  in  color,  the  pulp  consisting  of  five 
different  parts  covering  the  two  beans,  or  seeds,  which 
lie  within,  face  to  face.     If  there  is  only  one  bean  it  is 


Courtesy  Gcriitan-Atncrican  Coffee  Co. 
COl'FKK     ■VWV.V.    IN     lil'.AKIXi; 


round,   and   is   called   a   ■'peal)frry."'      Miicha   coffees   are 
peaberries. 

Kinds  of  Coffee. —  In  I'ra/il  tln'  ])ickiiig  season  l)e- 
gins  in  ^April  or  May.  and  continues  until  September. 
In  Java  the  ])icking  begins  in  January,  and  continues  lor 
three  or  four  moiUhs.  Tlu-  dirfercnt  \arieties  deri\e  tluir 
names    from    the    countries    whert'    tlu'\'    are    grown,    or 


OF    THE    United    States 


lOI 


from  the  ports  from  which  they  are  shipped.  Brazilian 
coffees  are  commercially  known  as  Rio,  as  they  are 
shipped  from  Rio  de  Janeiro.  Most  Venezuelan  coffees 
are  called  Maracaibo,  although  there  are  many  varieties. 
Most  of  the  East  Indian  product  is  known  as  Jdva, 
whether  it  came  from  the  Island  of  Java  or  not,  and 
like  that  shipped  from  Central  America  is  known  as 
Costa  Rica. 

Coffee  improves  with  age,  and  it  was  formerly  the 
custom  of  the  Government  to  keep  the  better  grades  in 


-'-.h^- . 


...^ 


Courtesy  Gerinan-Aincrican  Coffee  Co. 

coffee  roasters   in  operation 


storage  for  years  in  Java,  which  gives  us  the  term  "(31d 
Government  Ja\a."  This  plan  is  seldom  practised  at 
the  present  time. 

Preparing  Coffee  for  Market. — After  the  berries  are 
picked  they  are  prepared  for  the  market  by  "pulping." 
One  way  is  to  dry  the  berries  and  then  remove  the  pulp 
in  a  huller.  \\y  the  other  method  the  skin  and  pulp  are 
removed  by  being  macerated  and  washed,  after  which  the 
beans  are  dried  in  the  sun.     The  former  method  is  the 


I02  Industriat-Commercial    Geography 

oldest  and  most  used.  After  the  pulp  is  removed  the 
cofifee  is  sacked  and  placed  upon  the  market,  good,  bad 
and  indifferent,  all  together.  At  the  coft'ee  plants  in 
this  country  the  beans  are  first  passed  through  a  grader, 
which  separates  them  as  to  size.  The  rarest  and  most  ex- 
pensive coffees  are  sorted  by  hand  on  the  plantation,  but 
little  of  these  grades  ever  reaches  this  country.  Their 
sale  is  usually  controlled  by  the  governments  of  the 
countries  where  grown. 

The  most  essential  process  in  the  production  of  a 
cup  of  coffee  is  the  roasting.  The  best  coffee,  poorly 
roasted,  is  not  as  good  as  the  poorest  well  roasted.  This 
is  done  in  large  revolving  ovens,  the  grains  being  con- 
tinually in  motion,  and  this  process  requires  the  atten- 
tion of  an  expert.  At  the  proper  moment  these  ovens 
are  emptied  into  larger  pans,  with  perforated  bottoms, 
and  cooled  almost  instantly  by  suction,  which  is  an  es- 
sential point,  otherwise  the  flavor  might  be  ruined. 
Most  of  the  coffee  in  the  market  is  blended  by  mixing, 
scientifically,  several  kinds,  to  produce  different  flavors. 
Coffee  does  not  retain  its  flavor  long  after  roasting,  un- 
less kept  in  air-tight  receptacles. 

While  many  of  the  finer  grades  of  coffee  are  handled 
through  the  London  market,  Hamburg  is  the  world's 
central  market  for  high-grade  coffees,  most  of  the  prod- 
uct of  all  of  the  districts  passing  tlirdugh  the  hands  of 
the  German  brokers.  The  choicest  grades  are  sold  to 
the  European  trade,  which  pays  a  much  higher  price 
than  the  New  York  market. 

Tea. — Tea  is  the  cheapest  bexerage  known,  costing 
only  one  cent  for  five  cups,  at  fifty  cents  per  pound.  Tea 
is  the  only  beverage  guaranteed  to  be  pure  by  the  Gov- 
ernment, as  the  law  excludes  all   adulterated  teas. 

Tlie  tea  jilant  is  a  perennial,  but  onl}^  the  tender, 
green  leaves  are  picked.  The  great  tea  districts  of  the 
world  arc-  in  (liina.  Japan,  India  and  Ceylon.  The  two 
general   \arieties   upon   the   market   are  called  green   and 


OF    THE    United    States 


lO- 


black.  Green  teas  are  i;n)\vn,  ])rincipally,  in  the  North- 
ern part  of  China,  and  their  chief  market  is  Shanghai. 
They  are  known  as:  Gunpowders,  Imperials,  Young- 
Hysons,  and  Hysons,  according-  to  the  shape  the  leaves 
take  in  the  process  of  firing.  They  may  all  come  from 
the  same  plant.  The  flavors  differ  radically,  according  to 
the  districts  from  which  they  come. 

Preparing  Tea  for  Market. — When  the  leaves  be- 
come wilted,  after  |)icking,  they  are  rolled  by  hand  into 
little  Ijalls  and   dried   rai)idl_\'  over  ovens,   coloring  mat- 


Coiiytcsy  Hnijibiiyg-A  iiicr.   Line 
A    JAPANESE    TEA    I'ARTV 


ter  sometimes  being  supplied  to  give  them  a  handsome 
appearance.  The  greatest  consumption  of  green  teas  in 
this  country  is  in  the  Middle  States  or  Mississippi  Valley. 
The  most  popular  teas  in  England,  the  greatest  tea- 
drinking  country  in  the  world,  are  what  are  known  as 
black  teas.  The  four  leading  varieties  are :  Congous, 
Indias,  Ceylons  and  Oolongs.  The  first  three  of  these 
are  fermented  teas.  These  are  first  exposed  to  the  air, 
after    picking,     until    fermentation     takes    place,    which 


104  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

causes  them  to  have,  after  firing,  a  malty,  heavy  flavor. 
There  are  over  seven  hundred  tea  estates  in  India,  and 
the  same  number  in  Ceylon,  the  product  of  each  having 
a  peculiar  flavor,  or  "bouquet."  All  of  these  flavors  are 
readily  recognized  by  experts.  To  these,  add  the  thou- 
sands of  varieties  from  China  and  Japan,  and  imagine 
the  task  of  the  taster,  whose  expert  training  enables  him 
to  pass  judgment  upon  any  of  them.  Many  of  these 
men  are  able  to  name  any  tea,  and  tell  from  what  lo- 
cality it  came,  by  tasting  it. 

Tea  is  successfully  grown  in  South  Carolina,  Texas 
and  other  Southern  States.  It  is  not  probable,  however, 
that  the  industry  will  ever  assume  proportions  worthy 
of  much  notice,  in  this  country,  as  the  cost  of  labor  for 
picking  and  curing  is  so  high,  comparatively,  that  we 
can  never  compete  with  Oriental  countries.  ' 

Cocoa  and  Chocolate. — Chocolate  and  cocoa  differ 
from  tea  and  coffee  as  beverages,  from  the  fact  that  they 
are  not  merely  stimulants,  but  foods  as  well,  as  they  con- 
tain a  large  per  cent,  of  vegetable  oil.  The  cacao  tree 
is  a  tropical  product,  being  found  in  South  America,  the 
West  India  Islands  and  Central  America.  The  trees 
produce  best  when  grown  under  the  shade  of  other  trees. 
The  seeds  of  the  tree  are  enclosed  in  pods,  measuring 
from  eight  to  twelve  inches  in  length  and  half  as  much 
in  diameter.  Each  of  these  pods  are  tilled  with  closely 
packed  beans  or  seeds,  about  three  dozen  in  number. 
The  natives  pick  the  pods  from  the  trees  by  use  of  long 
poles,  with  hooked  knives  on  the  end,  and,  after  gath- 
ering them  from  the  ground,  the  pods  are  broken  open 
and  the  seeds  removed.  These  must  then  be  dried  on 
platforms  arranged  for  the  purpose.  Like  the  tea  and 
coffee  plants,  the  cacao  tree  is  an   evergreen. 

The  cocoa  beans  are  ])]ace(l  iii)()n  the  market  in  their 
raw  state.  At  the  mills  they  arc  scientifically  roasted, 
and,  when  thoroughly  pulverized,  form  the  chocolate  of 
commerce.      If,    before    grinding,    cocoa    is    desired,    the 


OF    THE    United    States 


105 


beans  are  subjected  to  qrcat  pressure,  by  which  about 
half  of  their  weis;ht  is  removed  as  cocoa  oil  or  butter, 
largely  used  as  a  cosmetic  and  for  other  purposes.  Then 
the  solid  substance  remaining-,  when  ground  into  powder, 
is  called  cocoa.  The  difference,  therefore,  between 
chocolate  and  cocoa,  as  beverages,  is  that  the  latter  con- 
tains much  less  of  the  oil. 


Courtesy  Walter  Baker  Co. 
COCOA    I'OUS    AND    LEAVES 


Chocolate  and  cocoa  were  first  manufactured  in  this 
country  in  1765,  near  Dorchester,  Massachusetts.  Like 
all  other  articles  of  commerce,  chocolate  and  cocoa  are 
sometimes  adulterated  by  the  addition  of  other  sub- 
stances, or  by  the  use  of  inferior  beans,  ground  hulls  or 
other  ingredients. 


io6  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

Where  Cocoa  Comes  From. — The  greatest  part  of 
the  cocoa  product  comes  from  Ecuador,  Guayaquil  be- 
ing the  world's  chief  market;  however,  the  finest  product 
comes  from  \  enezuela  and  Brazil.  Spain,  Portugal  and 
France  are  the  chief  consumers,  the  per-capita  use  in 
Spain  being  about  six  times  as  great  as  in  any  other  coun- 
try. The  United  States  annually  consumes  about  sixty- 
five  million  pounds  of  cocoa,  princi])ally  in  the  manu- 
facture of  confectionery. 

Coffee,  tea  and  cocoa,  are  all  wholesome  drinks,  and 
cannot  harm  any  one  when  proi)erly  prepared  and  used 
in  moderation.  However,  too  little  study  and  care  is 
generally  given  to  this  simple  process,  and,  oftentimes, 
as  much  courage  is  rec|uired  to  partake  of  one's  favorite 
beverage,  as  was  possessed  by  the  first  man  who  ate  an 
oyster ! 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  Trace  the  route  of  a  cargo  of  coffee  from  Rio  de 
Janeiro  to  New  York.  From  the  City  of  Mexico,  over- 
land, to  Chicago. 

2.  Obtain  samples  of  dried  coffee  berries,  coffee  in 
the  parchment,  also  some  specimens  of  Mocha,  Java, 
Sumatra,  Rio,  Maracaibo,  and  Liberian  coft'ees  for  ex- 
aminations.    What  differences  can  you  detect? 

3.  Why  were  strong  efforts  made  to  discourage  the 
use  of  coffee  when  it  was  first  introduced? 

4.  ^\'hat  can  ynu  learn  of  the  efforts  made  to  close 
the  coffee-houses  in  London,  Constanlin()[)le  and  other 
cities? 

5.  Read  the  history  of  the  tea-houses  of  London 
and  other  cities.  W  hy  has  tea-drinking  al\va\-s  been 
popular  with  the   h-nglish? 


OF     THE     UnITKD     StATES  1  O/ 

6.  Trace  a  shipment  of  tea  from  Hong-  Kong"  to 
London,  by  water.  How  would  the  same  be  shipped 
I'ia  the  United  States?  Why  is  the  latter  route  more 
economical  ? 

/.  Obtain  samples  of  several  varieties  of  both  green 
and  black  teas.  Moisten  and  unroll  the  leaves  and  note 
the  difference.  If  possible,  visit  a  wholesale  grocery 
house,  where  you  may  test  the  leading  varieties  of  coffee 
and  tea  in  the  cup. 

8.  What  are  some  of  the  suljstitutes  for  tea  and 
coffee?     Where  is  mate  tea  grown? 

().  On  a  map  of  the  world,  locate  the  Russian  "cara- 
van" route  to  luirope.  W'herc  may  tea  shipped  by  this 
route  reach  the  I'rans-Siberian  Railway?  This  is  a  \er_\' 
expensive  method  of  shipping  tea  to  Europe.  Why  is 
it  used? 


io8 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XIII 


COTTON   IS   KING 


"The  rose  has  a  thousand  lovers,  because 
Of  her  delicate  grace  and  perfume, 

But  lovers,  for  sturdier  reasons,  give 
Their  hearts  to  the  Cotton  bloom. 

It  grows  in  a  dazzling,  ample  land, 
Of   measureless  breadth   and   room — 

And  the  wealth  of  the  splendid  tropical  sun 
Dowers  this   Cotton   bloom. 


■HH^^^^^VpH^^^p^-  '^C, 

tSBHnI 

>;«r*- 

E^'^l 

yS 

9. 

Courtesy  Mo.  Pac.  Ry.  Co. 
PICKING    COTTON    BY    HAND 


And  Capital  keeps  his  eyes  on  the  field, 
\\  bile  he  hears  the  hum  of  the  loom. 

And  his  anxious  visage  glows  and  pales 
At  the  nod  of  the  Cotton  bloom." 

• — Hovv.xKD  W'eeden. 

The  cotton  plant  is  a  small  slirul),  from  two  to  four 
feet  in  height,  with  very  extensive  brandies.  The  leaves 
are  a  dark  f^reen  and  the  blossoms  are  pale  yellow  at  first 
but  ttirn  pur])le  when  fidly  developed.  In  their  ])lace 
_i4row  the  tiny  bolls  whicli  develop  until  the  size  of  a 
small  egi;"  and  wliicli,  when  ripe,  open  into  several  com- 
partments which  hold  the  seed  and  lint. 


OF    THE    United    States 


log 


Cotton  Planting. — Cotton  is  planted  about  the  first 
of  March  in  the  southern  belt  of  the  United  States,  and 
as  late  as  April  20th  farther  north.  F^lowini;"  should 
begin  as  soon  as  possible  in  the  Spring,  in  order  to  have 
a  perfect  seed-JK-d.  The  day  of  the  small  cotton  j)lanter 
is  practically  past ;  occasionally  a  negro  "mammy,"  with 
her  primitixe  methods,  plows  a  few  acres  to  support  an 
indolent  husband,  l)ut  modern  machinery  has  in\aded  the 
South  and  farming  is  there  receiving  as  much  attention 


C  "in  u  .y\  /■  /  ;ji  t'  System 
••WEIGH  ING    UP"    COTTON    AT    SUNDOWN 


as  in  the  northern  states.  The  ground  is  being  restored 
to  its  full  capacity  by  the  use  of  fertilizer  and  crop  rota- 
tion, and  the  results  are  all  that  could  be  expected. 

A  good  day's  work  was  one  acre,  when  cotton  was 
planted  with  a  hoe,  but  now  with  a  mule  and  a  planter 
a  man  can  plant  six  times  as  much.  W'c  do  not  have  a 
machine  that  will  drop  the  linty  seed  with  any  degree 
of  regularity,  which  necessitates  dropping  it  entirely  too 
thick,  and  when  the  stand  is  safe,  the  extra  plants  are 
chopped  out  with  a  hoe. 


no 


Industrial-Commercial    Gkocrathy 


When  the  tender  plants  are  about  four  inches  high 
they  are  ready  for  the  first  ])l()\ving'.  Idie  old-time  single 
shovel-plow  has  been  superseded  by  a  cultivator  which 
takes  care  of  both  sides  of  a  row  at  the  same  time,  making 
three  furrows  on  each  side.  This  process  is  repeated 
about  as  often  as  corn  is  cultivated  farther  north.  At 
first  cotton  grows  slowly,  as  it  is  a  tender  plant.  It  re- 
quires a  long  growing  season  aiifl  a  frost,  later  than  .April 


Courtesy  Campbell  Cotton  Picker  Co. 
THE    CAMPBELL    COTTON    PICKER 


first  or  earlier  than   November  first,  is  likeh'  to  be  dis- 

astrous.     A  well-distributed    rainfall  is  essential    during 

the  growing  season  and  a  long  dry  season  is  desirable 
while  the  crop  is  ripening. 

The  Cotton  Belt. — Cotton  is  grown  to  some  extent 
in  many  tropical  countries,  but  eleven  of  our  southern 
states  furnish  over  three-fourths  of  the  world's  supply, 
and,  perhaps,  will  always  ccjutinue  to  do  so.     However, 


OF   THE   United    States  iii 

we  allow  other  nations  to  rob  us  of  a  great  part  of  the 
profit,  for  we  do  not  lead  in  cotton  manufacturing". 

The  use  of  cotton  is  as  old  as  history,  for  it  was 
grown  upon  a  small  scale  in  the  earliest  known  settle- 
ments. Egypt  and  India  cultivated  cotton  long  before 
this  country  was  settled.  Cotton  is  the  most  indis- 
pensable plant  in  the  vegetable  kingdom,  because  it  has 
no  substitute.  The  proceeds  from  one  year's  crop  will 
more  than  bu}-  all  others,  combined.  All  the  gold  that 
has  been  mined  for  tlie  ]:>ast  five  years  would  scarcely 
pay  for  the  cotton  which  the  South  sent  abroad  last  year, 
and  much  more  would  be  required  to  purchase  the  for- 
eign-made goods  that  are  annually  returned  to  us. 

The  Use  of  Cotton  Universal. — You  arose  this  morn- 
ing from  a  cotton  bed,  stepped  upon  a  cotton  rug,  dressed 
in  cotton,  raised  a  cotton  window-shade,  used  soap  made 
from  cotton  oil,  and  dried  your  face  upon  a  cotton  towel. 
You  ate  biscuits  shortened  with  cotton  oil,  and  your  steak 
was  fattened  upon  cotton-seed.  Your  olive  oil  possibly 
was  first  shipped  to  Italy,  then  returned  with  a  title. 
Your  butter  may  have  been  largely  a  cotton  product. 

The  South  was  so  much  impoverished  by  the  Civil 
War,  and  so  many  changes  took  place,  that  the  cotton 
industry  was  for  a  time  paralyzed.  The  planters  began 
again  by  leasing  out  their  land  to  negroes,  requiring  them 
to  plant  cotton  only.  The  merchants  would  sell  these 
tenants'  supplies,  taking  a  lien  upon  their  crops  as  se- 
curity. Usually,  when  the  crop  was  gathered  and  settle- 
ment was  made  with  the  merchant  and  landlord,  the 
tenant  was  in  debt  sufficiently  to  insure  his  farming  the 
land  for  several  years  in  succession.  It  was  a  common 
expression  upon  the  plantations  at  that  time : 
"Naught's  a  naught — figger's  a  figger. 
All  for  the  white  man,  none  for  the  nigger." 
But  these  methods  seldom  exist  at  the  present  time ; 
many  of  the  negroes  have  become  land  owners  them- 
selves, and  the  large  plantations  have  been  divided  into 


112 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


smaller  farms,  and  such  fields  as  are  now  grown,  as  the 
result  of  practical  farming,  would  astonish  the  planters 
of  ante-bellum  days. 

The  public  has  always  pictured  the  negro,  the  mule 
and  the  cotton  field  together,  and  most  books  show  these 
"Cotton-tots"  laboring  with  the  fleecy  staple.  It  may 
surprise  many  to  know  that  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
white  people  raise  cotton  without  the  help  of  the  negroes 
at  all,  and  thousands  rif  others  only  call  them  in  during 


Courtesy  Continental  Gin  Co. 
A    MODERN    COTTON    {;iN    HOUSE 


the  busy  season.  Cotton  i)ickcrs  pick  by  weight,  receiv- 
ing about  fifty  cents  per  hundred  pounds.  Each  worker 
has  a  pile  at  the  end  of  the  field  and  these  ])iles  are 
weighed  at  sundown  and  each  i)ickcr  is  ])aid  in  money. 
They  will  not  wait  until  the  end  of  the  week,  and  the  end 
of  the  inoiitli  is  out  of  the  question.  The  negroes  pick 
in  baskets,  which  they  push  ahead  of  them  on  the  ground, 
while  the  white  jjickers  use  long  sacks  thrown  around 
the   shoulders. 


OF    THE    United    States  113 

Tlie  picking  season  begins  about  the  first  of  August 
and  lasts  from  ninety  to  one  hundred  days.  The  average 
yield  is  about  half  a  bale  per  acre,  while  under  good 
conditions  as  much  as  three  bales  have  been  grown  on 
one  acre.  The  problem  oi  the  cotton  planter,  like  that 
of  the  grain  farmer  farther  north,  is  to  increase  the  pro- 
duction. This  is  being  accomplished  by  better  plowing, 
better  fertilizing,  better  seed  selection,  and  better  culti- 
vation. 

Most  of  our  cotton  crop  is  picked  today  just  as  it 
was  gathered  a  thousand  years  ago,  although  every  other 
crop  has  some  labor-saving  machine  for  harvesting. 
Fifty  years  were  required  to  perfect  the  wheat  harvester, 
but  that  was  simple  on  account  of  the  nature  of  the  crop. 
The  cotton  picker  must  be  able  to  pick  the  open  bolls, 
at  whatever  height  thev  may  grow,  and  it  must  distin- 
guish betw^een  ripe  and  unripe  bolls,  for  the  crop  does 
not  all  ripen  at  the  same  time,  and  the  field  must  be  gone 
over  three  or  lour  times  at  intervals  of,  perhaps,  three 
weeks.  The  great  hope  (^f  the  country  has  been  that 
some  machine  may  be  invented  that  will  lessen  the  cost 
of  picking,  and  it  seems  that  the  hope  has  been  realized. 

The  Campbell  Cotton  Picker  was  first  demonstrated 
before  the  pulilic  in  1910.  It  resembles  a  large  motor- 
truck and,  as  it  dri^•cs  thrcjugh  the  field,  picks  the  open 
bolls  by  suction,  seemingly  being  able  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  ripe  and  unripe  bolls.  This  machine  will  do 
the  work  of  lhirt\-  men  and  it  is  expected  that  it  will  revo- 
lutionize the  industry. 

Preparing  Cotton  for  Shipment. — I'otton  gins  are 
located  at  almost  e\er}-  railroad  station  throughout  the 
cotton  belt.  The  planters  haul  their  cotton  to  these  in 
an  open  wagon-box.  Suction  tubes  unload  the  wagons 
(|uickl}-  and.  in  a  short  time,  the  l)ales  are  ready  to  be 
loaded  and  hauled  l)ack  to  ihe  farm  or  to  market. 

Whitney's  gin  has  been  much  improved,  yet  remains 
the   same   in   ])rinciple.      It   consists   of  a   series   of  fme- 


114 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


toothed  circular  saws,  a1)(Uit  three-fourths  of  an  incli 
apart,  revolving-  through  slits  in  a  steel  table.  The  teeth 
pull  the  cotton  through  the  slits  and  the  seed  is  carried 
off  the  other  way.  It  would  lake  a  man  two  years  to 
pick  enough  cotton  by  hand  to  make  a  bale,  while  a  gin 
will  turn  out  fifty  or  more  bales  in  a  day.  Bales  are 
cared  for  just  as  we  care  for  wheat  and  corn  in  the  North 
— held  until  the  market  suits,  or  piled  at  the  railroad  sta- 
tions until  they  can  be  hauled  away.  Cotton  is  usually 
sold  through  an  agent,  called  a  factor.  His  commission 
is  usually  one  dollar  per  bale.  A  square  bale  is  usually 
about  three  by  three  by  four  feet  in  size,  and  weighs  four 


Courtesy  Continental  Gin  Co. 
ENTIRE    TRAIN-LOAD    OF    COTTON 


liundred  pounds.  A\'hen  cotton  is  to  be  shipped  any  great 
distance  it  is  usually  compressed  into  cylindrical  bales, 
eighteen  inches  in  diameter  and  four  feet  long.  In  either 
case  they  are  covered  with  burla])  and  secured  ])y  iron 
bands. 

The  Use  of  the  Cotton  Seed. — For  a  hundred  years 
the  greatest  waste  ever  known  to  any  industry  resulted 
from  not  using  the  cotton  seed.  At  the  time  of  the  Civil 
W'dr  laws  were  in  effect  retiuiring  gins  tcj  be  built  over 


OF    THE    United    States  115 

water,  that  the  seed  might  be  washed  away,  or  it  must  be 
I)uried  or  burned  that  it  might  not  rot  and  become  a 
nuisance.  Now  the  seed  is  worth  one-fifth  as  much  as 
the  cotton  itself.  It  is  even  claimed  that  cotton  would 
be  a  profitable  crop  if  raised  for  the  seed  alone.  Some 
planters  haul  the  seed  back  to  the  farm,  where  it  is  valu- 
able as  stock  food  or  fertilizer,  or  it  may  be  sold  to  the 
oil  mills  for  about  twenty  dollars  per  ton.  There  it  is 
converted  into  cotton-seed  meal,  oil  and  hulls.  A  ton 
of  seed  contains  900  pounds  of  hulls  and  700  pounds  of 
meal,  which  is  one  of  the  very  best  fat-producing  foods 
on  the  market  for  cattle.  A  ton  of  seed  also  produces 
forty  gallons  of  "summer  yellow,"  which  when  refined 
may  be  manufactured  into  salad  oil,  cottolene,  compound 
lard,  soaps  and  oleomargarine. 

Cotton  Shipping  Centers. — Gah'eston  and  New  Or- 
leans are  the  great  cotton  markets  of  this  country  and 
the  total  value  of  shipping  from  these  ports  ranks  next 
to  that  of  New  York.  Vessels  from  many  foreign  coun- 
tries receive  cargoes  there,  which  are  distributed  to  every 
part  of  the  world.  Where  modern  methods  of  transpor- 
tation pause,  primitive  carriers  take  up  the  burden. 
Under  the  midnight  sun,  dogs  draw  sleds  laden  with  cot- 
ton goods,  and  pack  trains  carry  the  product  of  European 
mills  across  the  Andes.  The  yak  carries  a  load  into 
Thibet  and  the  Chinese  junk  carries  cotton  garments  to 
the  interior  tribes.  The  elephants  of  India  and  camels 
of  Egypt  carry  goods  made  from  American  cotton.  It 
is  almost  inconceivable  that  this  enormous  trafific  is 
pushed  by  countries  that  cannot  raise  the  raw  supply, 
and  America,  which  does  furnish  it  and  makes  possible 
this  greatest  commercial  invasion  in  the  world,  makes 
the  least  profit  from  the  industry. 

The  first  cotton  raised  in  this  country  was  made  into 
threads  upon  the  old-fashioned  spinning-wheel,  but  its 
monotonous,  melanch(  >\y  roar  is  seldom  heard  now.  Our 
grandmothers  spun  the  thread,  wove  the  cloth  on  hand 


ii6  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

looms  and  dyed  it  to  suit  their  fancy,  after  which  they 
made  garments  for  the  household. 

The  cotton  industry  of  the  United  States  was  early 
established  in  New  England,  where  there  were  present 
two  natural  conditions,  a  moist  climate  and  an  abundant 
and  cheap  water  power.  At  present  artificial  means  are 
used  to  moisten  the  air  and  cheaper  power  can  be  found 
elsewhere. 

Cotton  manufacturing-  is,  therefore,  taking  place 
nearer  the  cotton  fields.  North  and  South  Carolina  have 
recently  come  to  the  front  as  cotton  manufacturing  states. 
Why?  After  the  Civil  Wav  the  South  began  to  give 
the  manufacturing-  part  of  the  industry  some  encourage- 
ment and,  in  recent  years,  the  number  of  mills  has  in- 
creased materially,  as  water  power  is  as  plentiful  there 
as  in  Massachusetts.  Atlanta  is  now  called  the  "Fall 
River  of  the  South."  The  planter  has  been  greatly  bene- 
fited by  having  a  market  nearer  home  and  the  people 
have  been  benefited  by  having  employment  throughout 
the  year.  Only  about  one-third  of  our  cotton  is  manu- 
factured in  this  country. 

The  Exporting  of  Cotton. — There  was  a  time  when 
American  packets  carried  our  goods  around  the  world, 
l)ut  they  have  almost  vanished  from  the  seas.  Our 
domestic  commerce  is  more  than  double  that  of  all  other 
nations,  but  foreign  vessels  carry  almost  all  of  our  ex- 
ports. If  our  American  cotton  could  be  manufactured 
at  American  mills  and  carried  in  American  vessels,  it 
would  be  a  rich  heritage,  indeed.  A  crop  that  is  worth 
more  than  all  others  combined,  a  monopoly  of  the  one 
great  crop  of  the  world,  for  which  there  is  no  substitute. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  our  mainifacture  of  cotton  goods 
may  grow,  until  the  hum  of  our  spindles  will  be  heard 
as  far  as  those  of  Juigland,  and  we  can  then  export  cot- 
ton goods  instead  of  cotton  bales. 


OF    THE    United    States  117 

Henry  W.  Grady  tuld  the  story  very  concisely  when 
he  said  :  "What  a  royal  plant  cotton  is!  The  world  waits 
in  attendance  upon  its  growth  ;  the  showers  that  fall 
whispering  upon  its  leaves  are  heard  around  the  earth  ; 
the  sun  that  shines  on  it  is  tempered  by  the  prayers  of 
all  the  people ;  the  frost  that  chills  it  and  the  dew  that 
descends  from  the  stars  are  noted,  and  the  trespass  of  a 
little  green  worm  upon  its  leaf  is  inore  to  England  than 
the  advance  of  a  Russian  army  upon  her  Asiatic  outposts. 
It  is  gold  from  the  instant  it  puts  forth  its  tiny  shoots. 
Its  fiber  is  current  in  every  bank,  and  when,  loosing 
its  fleeces  to  the  sun,  it  floats  a  sunny  banner  that  glori- 
fies the  fields  of  the  humble  planter,  and  wrings  a  subsidy 
from  every  nation  on  earth." 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  What  position  does  Manchester,  England,  occupy 
in  the  cotton  trade? 

2.  What  is  the  greatest  foe  of  the  cotton  planter? 
What  steps  have  been  taken  by  the  States  and  Nation 
to  exterminate  this  pest?    A\"ith  what  success? 

3.  What  efl^ect  have  Watt's  steam  engine,  Ark- 
wright's  spinning  frame,  Hargreaves'  spinning  jenney 
and  Wliitney's  cotton  gin  had  upon  the  industry? 

4.  Why  were  m()st  of  the  textile  mills  first  Ijuilt 
in  the   New   England  States? 

5.  What  is  a  spinning  "jenney"?  How  many  spin- 
dles are  there  u])on  one? 

6.  0])tain  some  cotton  seed  from  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  or  elsewhere,  and  grow  some  plants  for 
examination. 

7.  What  countries  besides  the  United  States  grow 
cotton?  How  does  it  compare  in  quality  with  our 
product? 


ii8  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

8.  AMiat  is  raw  cotton  worth  upon  the  market  to- 
day? What  is  the  price  of  unbleached  musHn?  Why  are 
these  prices  higher  than  they  were  ten  years  ago? 

9.  Make  a  map  of  the  "Cotton  States  of  America," 
and  locate  the  principal  markets  and  manufacturing 
centers. 

10.  Trace  a  shipment  of  cotton  from  Mobile  to 
Japan,  via  the  Panama  Canal.  What  steamship  line 
would  probably  carry  the  shipment? 

11.  AMiat  line  might  carry  cotton  from  Galveston 
to  Manchester,  England?  Through  what  canal  would 
it  pass? 

12.  What  laws  have  been  enacted  relating  to  child 
labor  in  the  mills  of  this  country?  W^iy  are  they  neces- 
sary? 


OF    THE    United    States  119 


CHAPTER    XIV 

SHEEP  AND   WOOL 

Wool  is  the  most  important  animal  fiber  we  have, 
and  it  is  the  most  valuable  product  of  the  sheep.  It  is 
finer  than  hair  and  its  surface  is  covered  with  many 
overlapping  projections  which  give  it  its  felting  property, 
and  in  this  respect  it  dififers  from  any  other  fiber.  Among 
the  textile  industries  wool  manufacturing  is  second  onlv 
to  that  of  cotton. 

The  greatest  wool  market  in  this  country  is  Boston. 
l)ut  the  center  of  manufacture  is  Philadelphia,  while 
Lawrence,  Mass.,  and  Providence,  R.  I.,  are  of  next  ini- 
l)ortance.  In  point  of  production  the  United  States 
stands  fourth,  producing  about  eleven  per  cent,  of  the 
world's  wool  supply,  but  this  order  is  reversed  from  a 
manufacturing  standpoint,  as  we  lead  all  nations  by 
weaving  twenty-six  per  cent,  of  the  world's  su])ply ;  a 
striking  contrast  when  compared  with  our  manufacture 
of  cotton  cloth. 

Sheep  Raising — Leading  Countries. — The  finest  and 
softest  wool  is  grown  in  arid  plateau  regions.  The  fibers 
are  finer  than  silk,  and  the  goods  made  from  them  are 
softer.  The  chief  producing  countries '  are  Australia, 
Argentina,  Russia,  United  States.  Asia,  New  Zealand  and 
Great  Britain,  although  some  sheep  are  produced  in 
every  civilized  country.  In  the  United  States,  while 
sheep  are  raised  with  profit  in  every  state,  the  business 
is  carried  on  upon  the  greatest  scale  in  Cr)lorado,  Mon- 
tana, Utah,  A\'\(ming  and  Idaho,  where  there  are  vast 
areas  of  native  grass  which  the  herders  appropriate  to 
their  use   free   of  charge.      In   those   states  it   is   a   rare 


I20 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


thing-  for  a  ranchman   to  ever  feed   his   sheep   anything 
except  the  native  grass. 

Varieties  of  Sheep. — There  are  many  varieties  of 
sheep,  each  particularly  adapted  to  the  locality  where  it 
is  grown.  There  are  the  long- wool  sheep,  such  as  the 
Lincolns,    Leicesters    and    Cotswolds    which    produce    a 


Photograph  by  L.  C.  Rusiniscl 
A    FLOCK    OF    TIIOKOT'CITr.RFDS 

coarse  wool  sometimes  twenty  inches  long.  The  Shrop- 
shires,  Downes,  and  Horned  Dorsets  are  medinm-wooled 
sheep  wlidse  fibers  are  shdrter  and  finer,  but  most  im- 
portant of  all  are  the  Aarious  breeds  of  Merinos.  The 
wool  of  these  sheep  is  beautiful]}-  \va\-}-  and  crim|)ed. 
The  finest  wool  sometimes  has  thirty  crimps  to  the  incli, 


OF    THE    United    States 


121 


and,  it  is  claimed,  that  one  pound  may  be  spun  into  a 
thread  one  hundred  miles  loni^'.  The  Mission  wools  of 
California,  and  those  used  by  the  Navajo  Indians  in  the 
manufacture  of  their  beautiful  blankets,  are  the  product 
of  Merino  sheep.  The  coarsest  wools  are  nearly  straight 
and  are  untitted  for  general  use,  however,  each  is  indis- 
pensable for  some  certain  use. 

The  rug  wools  grown  in  Persia,  Turkey,  and  Asia 
vary  in  fineness,  and,  because  they  do  not  felt  readily, 
they  are  the  best  in  the  world  for  rug  stock.  The  "iMle" 
or  surface  of  the  rug  remains  elastic  and  stands  upright. 


Courtesy  American  Woolen  Co. 
OPENING    AND    SORTING    THE    BALES 

even  after  a  hundred  years  of  wear.  This  quality  is  due 
more  to  climatic  conditions  and  food  than  to  the  species 
of  sheep.  In  fact,  any  variety  of  sheep  will  produce  a 
different  quality  of  wool  when  removed  from  its  natural 
environment.  The  great  care  given  the  sheep  by  the 
expert  rug  makers  must  alst)  be  considered.  It  is  claimed 
that  the  Turks  and  Persians  comb  the  sheep  every  day 
in  order  to  keep  the  wool  straight.  In  Russia,  Asia 
Minor,  China  and  Spain  the  sheep  have  undergone  no  im- 
provement and  produce  the  longest  and  coarsest  comlnng 
wools,  which  are  used  in  carpet  weaving. 


122 


IXDUSTRIAI -Com  MERCIAL     GEOGRAPHY 


The  Carpet  Industry. — The  carpet  industry  forms 
one  of  the  most  important  branches  of  wool  manufacture 
in  this  country,  due  principally  to  several  American  in- 
ventions, the  chief  one  being  the  adaptation  of  the  power 
loam  to  the  weaving  of  ingrain  carpets,  a  power  loom  for 
the  weaving  of  Jacquard  Brussels  and  Wilton  carpets 
and  several  machines  for  weaving  Tapestry  Brussels  and 
Axminster  carpets. 

The  Preparation  of  Wool. — The  wool  of  the  sheep, 
as   it   grows,   is   saturated   with   a   natural   grease   or   oil 


Courtesy  A.  F.  S.  F.  liy.  Co. 
PRIMITIVE    METHOD— NAVAJO    RUG    MAKER 

which  causes  it  to  shed  water  and  prevents  it  from  felting 
on  the  sheep's  back.  Wlirn  the  wool  is  sheared  it  does 
not  tall  apart  like  bunclics  of  hair,  but  holds  together  and 
each  llcece  is  tied  in  a  bundle  separateh'.  When  the 
fleeces  are  opened  at  the  mills  they  are  spread  out  and 
sorted  into  many  varieties  or  grades  of  wool,  according 
to  fineness  and  length  of  fiber.  Each  variety  is  then 
washed  in  hot  sfiapsuds  to  remove  the  grease  and  dirt. 
'1  he  grease    is   saved    and    refined    into   lanolin,    used    by 


OF    THE    United    States 


123 


manufacturing  chemists  as  a  base.  Sometimes  the  grease 
is  manufactured  into  soap  for  use  in  washing  more  wool. 
When  converting"  the  wool  into  yarn  it  must  be 
carded  by  being  passed  through  a  machine  which  picks 
it  to  pieces  and  untangles  the  fibers,  after  which  they  are 
spun  into  threads  by  the  "jenney"  or  "mule"  and  passed 
on  to  the  loom  room.  If  not  more  than  three  colors  are 
desired  the  weaving  is  done  on  "Dobby"  looms,  but  where 
any  variety  of  colors  and  patterns  of  intricate  design 
are  desired  the  wonderful  Jacquard  loom  does  the  work. 
This   machine   works   from   a   perforated   pattern   resem- 


Coiirtcsy  M.,  K.  &  T.  Ry.  Co. 
IN    A    MODERN    WOOLEN    MIEL 


bling,  somewhat,  the  perforated  music  of  the  player- 
piano.  In  the  manufacture  of  felt  the  wool  is  neither 
si)un  nor  woven,  Init  is  simply  tangled  and  pressed. 

Sheep  Herding. — Sheep  herds  range  in  size  from 
one  thousand  to  one  hundred  thousand  sheep,  and  are 
"run"  or  grazed  in  flocks  ranging  from  one  thousand  to 
thirty-five  hundred  head.  The  lack  of  initiative  spirit  in 
sheep  makes  it  possible  for  one  man  and  a  Collie  dog  to 
handle  this  number  easilv,  where  fences  and   folds  and 


124  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

pasture  limits  are  unknown.  The  small  herds  are  gen- 
erally owned  by  the  men  who  eare  for  them,  the  larger 
ones  by  companies  that  employ  herders.  A  man  starting 
in  the  business  must  first  make  sure  of  his  watering 
places,  as  sheep  must  have  water  every  three  or  four  days 
during  summer,  unless  there  is  heavy  dew,  in  which  case 
they  can  get  along  a  week.  In  winter  they  will  eat  snow, 
wdiich  enal:)]es  the  herder  to  pasture  them  over  a  wider 
range. 

The  herder  makes  his  home  in  the  sheep  wagon, 
wdiich  is  fitted  up  with  a  bunk,  cooking  utensils  and  a 
supply  of  provisions.  This  wagon  he  moves  about  from 
place  to  place  as  the  pasture  is  exhausted.  Sheep  eat  the 
grass  into  the  very  earth  and  it  is  at  least  two  years 
before  the  same  territory  can  be  pastured  over  again. 
If  a  man  prospers,  and  his  herd  increases,  he  may,  in  a 
few  years,  leave  his  wagon  and  make  his  home  in  a  ranch 
house  and  later  in  a  town  residence.  But  many  of  the 
herders,  often  with  their  families,  have  followed  their 
flocks  in  wagons  for  years. 

In  the  Northwest  people  catch  the  "sheep  fever"  just 
as  they  formerly  caught  the  "gold  fever"  and  many  have 
made  great  fortunes,  although  it  is  estimated  that  about 
twenty  per  cent.  fail.  The  large  drovers  may  have  as 
many  as  twenty  herders,  each  with  his  three  thousand 
sheep.  These  men  get  forty  dollars  per  month  and 
"keep."  Every  two  or  three  weeks  the  camj)  mover,  who 
does  nothing  else,  comes  along  and  takes  the  herder's 
wagon  to  the  top  of  another  ridge  where  the  forage  is 
good,  re-stocks  the  w^agon  with  sup]:)lies,  and  passes  on 
to  the  next  herder.  No  one  ever  molests  supplies  in  a 
herder's  wagon — it  is  one  of  the  small  confidences  in 
humankind  which  survives  in  the  West,  and  it  is  never 
betrayed. 

In  summer  the  herder  nuist  rise  early  to  get  his 
sheep  out  before  the  dew  is  gone,  in  winter  he  must  do 
likewise,  because  the  days  are  short  and  the  sheep  need 


OF    THE    United    States 


125 


all  the  feed  the}-  can  <;et.  Sliee])  are  entire!}^  dependent 
upon  the  herder.  They  will  not  stir  from  the  bedding 
ground  until  he  rousts  them  out,  or  do  anything  for  their 
own  w^elfare  unless  drixen  !)\-  him.  W  hen  they  do  act 
upon  their  own  volition  it  is  generally  to  their  own  de- 
struction. 

The  herder's  dogs  are  remarkably  intelligent  and 
well  trained.  One  of  them  will  do  as  much  work  with  a 
herd  of  sheep  as  ten  men  could  do.      iliey  will  spread  the 


C  i'li ricsv  A  iiiL-ncn II  1  i 


A    TACOUARD    LOOM 


cii  Co. 


Hock,  turn  the  sheep,  or  bunch  them,  following  the  herd- 
er's orders  so  long  as  they  can  see  or  hear  him. 

At  evening  the  herd  is  ])rought  l)ack  near  the  wagon 
and  bedded  against  a  hillside,  choosing  the  location  with 
regard  to  the  wind,  which  must  blow  over  them  and  not 
against  them,  or  they  will  stampede.  AA'hen  they  lie 
down  and  become  (|uiet  the  herder  may  go  to  his  wagon, 
cook  his  supper  and  "turn  in."  In  winter  the  sheep  must 
be  fed  "against"  the  wind,  for  if  they  were  started  out 


126  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

with  it  they  would  never  come  back.  If  the  great  prairie 
has  not  yielded  enough  feed  for  them  they  must  return 
at  night  and  wait  for  another  day,  to  again  tussle  with 
wind  and  snow  and  hunger  until  starvation  relieves  them 
or  spring  comes. 

The  rougher  the  weather  the  more  essential  it  is 
that  the  sheep  be  driven  out  early,  for  there  is  nothing 
else  for  them  but  the  dry  grass  which  they  snip  when  it 
is  often  thirty-live  degrees  below  zero.  And  little  better 
off  is  the  herder  than  his  sheep,  for  there  he  exists,  day 
after  day,  never  seeing  a  human  being  except  the  cam]) 
mover.  Many  of  them  become  inveterate  readers,  but  the 
illiterate  ones  do  not  have  this  consolation  even,  and  they 
frequently  lose  their  minds. 

In  Australia  laws  have  been  enacted  rec|uiring  herd- 
ers to  be  sent  out  in  pairs,  thus  relieving  the  terrible 
strain  upon  their  minds.  A\dien  a  man  cannot  read,  and 
there  is  no  one  to  whom  he  may  talk,  his  "thought  reel"" 
gets  to  whirling  so  rapidly  that  it  muddles  his  brain.  It 
is  noticeable  that  most  men  \\  ho  have  been  sheep  herders 
on  the  great  plains  of  the  Northwest  draw  the  upper  lip 
back  from  the  teeth,  exposing  them,  rabbit  fashion.  This 
is  a  confirmed  habit,  perhaps  due  to  the  strong  white  light 
upon  the  vast  stretches  of  prairie. 

Sheep  Shearing. — Sheep  shearing  is  to  the  wool  in- 
dustr}-  what  harvesting  is  to  wheat.  Professional  shear- 
ers start  in  Mexico  early  in  the  spring  and  work  north, 
getting  about  four  months  work  each  year  and  making 
abotit  ten  dollars  a  day.  They  are  i)aid  about  nine  cents 
])er  head  fur  their  work.  The  compressed  air  clii)i)er  has 
practically  supplanted  the  old  hand  shears.  The  sheep, 
strip])ed  of  their  wodl.  are  unable  to  stand  much  cold,  and 
great  care  must  be  taken  not  to  shear  too  early.  One 
man  at  Caspar,  Wyoming,  sheared  to(T  early  and  lost 
2,400  sheep  in  one  night,  in  a  blizzard. 

The  shearer  draws  a  sheep  out  of  the   ])en,  scpuits 


OF    THE    United    States  127 

it  on  its  haunches,  clasps  it  with  his  knees,  and  begins  to 
cut  away  the  fleece  at  the  point  of  the  shoulder.  In  from 
two  to  five  minutes  his  work  is  done  and  the  fleece  rolls 
to  the  floor.  He  ties  this  in  a  bundle  and  tosses  it  aside 
to  make  room  for  another. 

TIk'  fleeces  are  placed  in  long  Ijurlap  sacks  and 
tram])ed  down  until  each  sack  weighs  three  hundred 
pounds.  In  the  East  sheep  are  washed  liefore  shearing 
but  this  is  not  the  custom  in  the  AVest.  Fleeces  are  cut 
from  milliDns  of  sheep  every  year  far  from  any  railroad. 
The  long  sacks  are  placed  upon  wagons  and  hauled  to 
the  nearest  station.  It  is  no  unusual  thing  to  see  a  train 
of  four  or  five  wagons  hauling  perhaps  twenty  thousand 
dollars  worth  of  wool  to  the  market. 

The  flocks  are  mostly  ewes,  the  wethers  being  mar- 
keted while  lambs.  Xot  counting  the  lambs  she  yields, 
each  ewe,  during  her  useful  period,  delivers  t(T  the  owner 
an  average  of  eight  dollars  worth  of  wool.  It  has  not  cost 
anything  to  feed  her  on  the  range.  Then,  when  these 
old  ewes  become  what  are  called  "bad  risks"  they  are 
shipped  to  stations  near  Chicago,  Kansas  City,  Omaha  or 
St.  Joseph  where  they  are  known  as  "feeders,"  and  specu- 
lators Ijuy  them,  fatten  them  on  hay  and  grain  and  sell 
them  to  the  packing  houses,  after  which  they  become 
lamb  chops.  •    ^ 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  What  states  produce  the  most  sheep?  Tint  these 
states  upon  an  outline  map  of  the  United  States. 

2.  Trace  a  shi])ment  of  wool  from  Caspar,  Wy- 
oming, to  I5oston,  naming  the  railroads  over  which  it 
would  ])ass.  Where  would  changes  be  made  and  to  what 
roads? 

3.  A\'hat  natural  features  make  Australia  and  Ar- 
gentina the  greatest  wool-])ro(lucing  countries?  Trace 
a  shipment  of  wool  from  I'ucnos  Ay  res  to  Manchester, 
England.     T*"rom  Mel])ourne  to  T'\a]l  River,  Mass. 


128  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

4.  What  is  cashmere?  Alpaca?"  Angora?  Long 
sta])le?     Sliort  staple?     What  is  a  s|)inning  jenney? 

5.  Obtain  specimens  of  as  man}-  kinds  of  woolen 
goods  as  possible  and  note  the  difference.  How  can  von 
distinguish  all-wool  goods  from  part  cotton?  What  is 
shoddy? 

6.  in  the  grazing  country,  wh}-  is  there  a  continual 
conflict  between  cattle  and  shee])  owners? 

7.  What  is  the  chief  industry  of  New  Zealand? 

(S.  Why  is  London  the  largest  wool  market  in  the 
world  ? 

9.  If  ]x:)ssible,  visit  a  woolen  mill  and  trace  the 
wool  from  the  time  the  sacks  are  oi)ened  until  the  cloth 
is  ready  for  the  market.  \'isit  a  packing  house  and  note 
the  different  methods  of  preparing  mutton  for  different 
markets. 


OF    THE    United    States 


129 


CHAPTER    XV 


SILK— "THE  GOLD  OF  TEXTILES" 


Silk  Culture. —  Vnr  nearly  thirty  centuries  silk  cul- 
ture was  one  of  China's  cherished  secrets.  During  the 
greater  part  of  this  time  caraxans  ])loddecl  across  the  con- 


Loiirtcsy  Cortu-cUi  Silk  Milts 
SILK-WORM    AT    WORK 


tinent  to  Persia,  loaded  witli  their  precious  bales.  The 
Persian  traders  sold  the  silk  to  Syria,  Egypt  and  Greece. 
So  well  did  the  Chinese  guard  their  secret  that  the  origin 
pf  silk  was  not  known  to  the  W^estern  world  until   the 


130  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

middle  of  the  sixth  century.  It  is  said  that  two  monks 
smuggled  a  few  eggs  to  Constantinople  in  their  pilgrim's 
staffs,  and  from  these  all  the  silkworms  in  the  Western 
world  are  descended. 

Three  hundred  years  before  that  a  descendant  of  a 
Chinese  Emperor  fled  to  Japan,  carrying  a  few  of  the 
precious  eggs  with  him,  with  which  he  paid  for  protection 
from  his  pursuers.  The  Moors  brought  the  silkworm  to 
Spain  in  the  tenth  century,  and  from  there  the  industry 
was  soon  extended  to  Greece  and  Italy,  and  to  France 
about  three  hundred  years  later. 

Silk  is  the  gold  of  textiles.  In  ancient  times  kings 
and  emperors  have  weighed  their  treasures  of  silk  with 
their  gems  and  precious  metals.  Only  within  the  past 
twenty  years  has  American  skill  perfected  the  weaving 
of  silk  by  power-looms,  and  revolutionized  and  cheap- 
ened the  processes  of  manufacture,  until  silk  fabrics  are 
within  the  reach  of  all. 

Manufacture  of  Silk. — Silk  is  one  of  the  most  sen- 
siti\e  of  the  great  barometers  of  trade,  as  it  is  the  first 
to  be  affected  by  financial  disturbances.  The  prosperity 
of  nations  may  be  judged  l)y  their  consumption  of  silk. 
The  United  States  is  the  greatest  consumer  of  raw  silk 
in  the  world.  About  half  of  the  silk  used  in  this  country 
is  manufactured  here,  and  there  is  very  little  exported. 
Our  annual  purchases  of  raw  silk  from  France,  and  other 
countries,  amounts  to  about  forty  million  dollars.  There 
is  more  raw  silk  sold  annually  in  New  York  City  tlian 
is  biiuglit  by  France,  whii'h  ciiuntr\-  led  in  this  industry 
until  recently.  The  annual  ])roduct  of  ciur  looms  is  about 
one  liundred  and  fifty  million  dollars  and  we  spend,  alto- 
getliei',  for  silk  goods,  as  much  as  we  spend  for  education. 

The  breeding  and  management  of  silk  worms,  called 
sericulture,  has  never  been  successful  in  this  country, 
although  it  has  been  tried  many  times,  dating  back  to 
the  first  attempt  in  the  X'irginia  Culnny  in  1OJ4.  These 
efforts  have  failed  f<>r  the  reason  that  the  cost  of  labor 


OF    THE    United    States 


131 


for  producing  reeled  silk  in  Europe  is  from  eight  to 
twenty-five  cents  a  day,  and  in  Asia  as  low  as  two  cents 
a  day,  a  competition  that  we  will  never  be  able  to  meet. 
It  is  a  unique  product,  its  raw  material  being  produced 
by  the  cheapest  labor  in  the  world,  and  the  finished 
product  being  the  most  costly  merchandise. 

Centers  of  the  Silk  Industry  in  America. — The  manu- 
facture of  silk  goods  in  this  country  has  grown  to  such 
an  extent  during  the  past  forty  years,  that  the  raw  silk 
supply  has  increased  two  and  one-half  times.     The  first 


Courtesy  Bclding  Bros.  Silk  Mills 
GATHERING    THE    COCOONS 


mill  in  this  country  was  built  at  Mansfield,  Conn.,  in  1810, 
and  it  is  still  standing,  a  little  building  fifteen  by  twenty 
feet  in  size,  built  over  a  swift-running  stream.  There  are 
now  about  seven  hundred  silk  mills  in  the  United  States, 
employing  over  one  hundred  thousand  operatives.  In 
this  industry  New  Jersey  leads,  Pennsylvania  stands 
second  and  New  York  third.  The  greatest  silk  city  in 
this  country  is  Paterson,  N.  J.,  there  being  over  three 
hundred  mills  there,  with  a  product  of  over  thirty  million 
dollars  per  year. 


n2  IxDUSTRIAL-CoMMERt  lAL     CiKOGRArHV 


ij 


The  Silkworm. — The  silkworm  is  cultivated  princi- 
pally in  China,  Japan,  India  and  the  Mediterranean  coun- 
tries of  Europe.  China  exports  about  thirty  million 
pounds  of  raw  silk  every  year,  which  is  almost  double 
the  amount  sold  by  Japan. 

There  are  four  stages  in  the  development  of  the  silk- 
worm— the  eg-gs,  the  larva,  the  chrysalis  and  the  moth, 
the  span  of  its  life  being  only  about  fifty  days.  One 
moth  will  lay  about  four  hundred  eggs,  and  forty  thou- 
sand of  them  will  weigh  an  uunce !  The  eggs  may  be 
hatched  by  heat  at  any  time— they  may  be  kept  in  a 
warm  dry  place  almost  indefinitely.  When  the  worm 
is  hatched  it  is  black  in  color  and  scarcely  an  eighth  of 
an  inch  long.  It  has  four  moulting  seasons,  at  which  times 
the  old  skin  breaks  at  the  nose,  and  the  worm  wriggles 
and  twists  until  it  entirely  emerges  from  it.  As  it  grows 
older  and  larger  the  silkworm  becomes  lighter  in  color 
until  it  is  almost  white.  Each  change  gives  the  worm 
an  insatiable  hunger  and  it  feeds  ravenously  upon  the 
leaves  of  the  mulberry  tree,  which  are  picked  and  placed 
upon  trays  daily.  Several  thousand  of  the  worms  eating 
make  a  noise  like  the  pattering  of  rain. 

In  about  forty  days  the  worm  is  full  grown  and  ready 
to  begin  spinning  its  cocoon.  It  climbs  up  from  the  feed- 
ing tray  to  the  branches  above  it  in  search  of  a  suitable 
twig  upon  which  to  l)egin  its  s])inning.  It  loses  its  appe- 
tite and  shrinks  nearly  an  inch  in  length.  Then  it  tlirows 
out  silken  guy  lines  to  secure  the  cocoon  in  its  place  and 
graduallv  wraps  itself  in  a  much  closer  covering,  an  oval 
ball  the  size  of  a  ])igeon's  egg,  which  is  called  a  cocoon. 
The  silken  threads  come  from  two  senii-tluid  glands  near 
the  head  which  unite  within  a  small  orifice  l)elow  the 
mouth,  from  which  the  silk  issues  in  a  glutinous  state, 
the  two  threads  appearing  as  one.  The  motion  of  the 
worm's  head  is  very  rai)id  and  from  nine  to  twelve  inches 
of  silk  tlow  in  a  minute.  The  thread  is  not  wound  around 
the  cocoon  but  is  laid  in  short  figure-eight  loops,  so  that 


OF    THF,    United    States 


U5 


when  the  cocoon  is  nnwonnd  several  yards  of  silk  may  be 
taken  off  without  turning-  it.  The  worm  makes  seventy- 
five  elliptical  motions  of  its  head  per  minute,  or  about 
three  hundred  thousand  in  the  construction  of  a  cocoon, 
which  it  makes  in  about  fixe  (la3'S. 

As  soon  as  the  worm  is  in  its  chrysalis  state,  the 
cocoons,  except  those  required  for  breeding,  are  collected 
and  stifled  in  a  steam-heater.  If  the  moths  were  allowed 
to  emerge  they  would  break  so  many  threads  that  the 
cocoons  would  be  ruined  for  reeling.     In  the  best  cocoons 


Cuiii-lcsy  Bcldiiig  Bros.  Silk  Mills 
REELING    THE    SILK    INTO    SKEINS 


the  silk  thread  will  measure  about  1200  feet  in  length. 
The  outer  loose  layer  is  known  as  "floss,"  which  is  made 
into  spun  silk,  no  cft'ort  being  made  to  use  the  continuous 
thread,  but  it  is  woven  like  cotton  or  wool. 

The  thread  in  the  core  of  the  cocoon  is  so  fine  that 
it  is  unfit  for  manufacture,  therefore  several  are  unwound 
at  the  same  time.  In  Japan  and  China  this  is  usually 
done  by  hand,  although  in  many  places  machinery  is 
coming  into  use.  The  cocoons  are  first  placed  in  hot 
water,   which  softens  the  gum   so   the   required   number 


134 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


of  threads  may  be  picked  out,  and  they  are  run  through 
a  guide  on  a  reel,  hardening  again  into  a  single  thread. 
The  finest  sizes  reeled  run  491,000  yards,  or  297 
miles,  to  the  pound,  although  the  average  thread  runs 
about  150,000  yards  to  the  pound.  .Vfter  drying,  the 
skeins  are  tied  up  in  packages  of  five  and  ])ut  into  a 
tough,  water-proof  cover.  From  twenty-eight  to  thirty- 
two  of  these  packages  are  then  tied  witli  ropes,  wrapped 


Courtesy  CorticcUi  Silk  Mills 
WIXDINO     rilUKAD    ON    Sl'OOLS 


with  oiled  pajjcr,  then  coxercd  with  matting  and  hound 
for  shipment,  in  which  form  it  reaches  this  country  for 
manufacture. 

The  Process  of  Silk  Manufacture. —  The  silk  mill  of 
today  is  the  result  of  one  of  the  greatest  industrial  de- 
velopments in  this  couiury.  There  are  seven  sei)arate 
division^  in  the  maiiul'aetnre  of  sil]<  :  throwing,  dyeing  in 
the  skein,  winding,  weaving,  dyeing  in  the  piece,  printing 


OF    THE    United    States 


135 


and  finishing".  The  raw  silk  is  too  fine  for  ordinary  use 
and  it  is  the  throwster's  task  to  wind,  clean,  dcmlile- 
twist,  rewind  and  reel  it  into  more  substantial  yarn.  He 
converts  it  into  singles,  tram  or  organzine  according  to 
the  purpose  for  which  it  is  to  be  used.  Before  reeling, 
the  threads  must  be  stretched,  which  evens  them  and 
gives  firmness  and  uniformity  of  size.  Singles,  tram, 
organzine,  sewing  silk  and  machine  twist  are  then  trans- 
ferred to  a  reel  and  made  into  skeins  for  dyeing. 


Courtesy  Bc'ding  Bros.  Silk  Mills 
WEAVING    SILK    CLOTH 


They  are  now  boiled  in  soapsuds  to  free  them  of 
the  remaining  gum  and  to  give  them  lustre.  This  process 
removes  about  one-fourth  of  the  original  weight.  Next 
it  is  put  into  the  dye  vat.  w^here  the  adulteration  or 
"weighting"  is  done,  if  at  all.  Proper  dyeing  adds  about 
ten  per  cent,  to  the  weight,  but,  by  dipping  again  and 
again  in  the  heavy  metallic  dyes,  as  much  as  seventy- 
five  per  cent,  in  weight  may  be  added.  Any  silk,  if 
heavily  loaded,  will  break  easily,  an  experience  which 
every  purchaser  has  had. 

After   the   silk   is   dyed   it   is   known   as  "soft   silk." 


136  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

'I'lien  it  is  ready  to  be  wound  in  skeins  or  on  s])(,)ols  fi)r 
the  market,  or  ready  for  weaving  into  broad  goods. 
Kx'er}^  woven  fabric  consists  of  a  warp  and  a  woof  or 
filling.  There  are  two  systems  of  threads,  the  former 
running  lengthwise  and  the  latter  crosswise,  under  and 
over  alternately,  this  interlacing  being  called  the  weave. 
The  three  foundation  weaves  are  called  tafifeta,  serge  and 
satin.  The  finest  grade  of  velvet  is  made  by  looping  the 
warp  thread  over  fine  wires,  which  give,  by  their  size, 
the  desired  length  of  pile.  When  a  few  inches  of  web 
is  woven  the  weaver  stops  and  cuts  the  fine  loops  w  itli 
a  knife.  Other  grades  are  made  by  the  use  of  the  power 
loom. 

-Ml  goods  requiring  more  than  three  colors,  or  those 
demanding  intricacy  of  design,  are  woven  by  the  Jac- 
quard  loom,  an  improvement  or  addition  to  the  ordinary 
"Dobby"  loom,  consisting  of  a  set  of  strings,  one  for 
each  of  the  warj)  tlireads,  suspended  from  the  top.  The 
pattern  is  cut  in  cards,  resembling  the  music  for  a  player- 
piano,  this  being  engaged  by  the  strings,  so  that  any 
desired  efl:'ect  or  design  may  be  obtained.  This  machine 
has  been  so  changed  by  American  invention  that  little 
of  the  original  loom,  except  the  idea,  remains,  'i'hc 
really  efficient  power  loom  dates  back  only  about  twenty 
years.  In  the  past  ten  years  more  progress  has  l)ecn 
made  in  imjjroved  mill  machinery  than  in  the  thirty  pre- 
ceding. The  modern  power  loom  of  today  is  equipped 
with  mechanical  devices  that  work  automatically  to  save 
time,  material  and  labor. 

Substitutes  for  Silk. — Many  attempts  have  been 
made  to  find  a  sul)stitute  for  silk.  Cotton  thread,  inider 
various  names,  is  used  in  infitation  of  silk,  but  vegetable 
fiber  becomes  worthless  when  afifected  by  dampness. 
Silk,  however,  i^  in  it'^  clcnu-nl  when  wet,  being  (irig- 
inally  an  animal  ])r()duct.  In  1S74  a  silk  mill  was  de- 
stroyed by  the  breaking  of  a  dam  in  Massachusetts  and 
sewing  silk  was  scattered  for  miles  below.    This  has  been 


OF    THE    United    States  137 

frequently  pldwed  up  l)y  fanners  since  and  found  t^  Iia\e 
retained   its   orig'inal   strength. 

Silk  Thread. — In  addition  to  the  manufacture  of  silk 
cloth  the  silk  thread  industry  has  assumed  great  pro- 
portions in  this  country,  many  of  the  mills  about 
Florence,  Massachusetts,  confining  their  operations  to 
this  one  branch  of  the  industry  alone,  manufacturing,  in 
addition  to  the  ordinary  spool  silk,  machine  twist,  crochet 
silk,  knitting  silk,  lace  silk,  floss,  embroidery  silk  and 
many  others. 

Various  Uses  of  Silk. —  The  electrician  uses  silk 
thread  for  insulating  wires;  it  is  car1)onized  and  used 
for  filaments  for  the  incandescent  lights.  The  surgeon 
uses  it  for  sewing  incisions,  also  for  adhesive  plasters; 
the  dentist  to  clean  between  the  teeth;  the  l)ookl)inder  to 
tie  fancy  booklets  and  cards,  and  for  the  binding  itself, 
and  the  fisherman  uses  it  to  snell  his  hook.  Silk,  which 
for  centuries  was  considered  a  luxury,  has  become  so 
cheap  that  it  is  now  a  necessity. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  If  we  cannot  compete  with  foreign  countries  in 
the  production  of  silk,  w'hy  can  we  surpass  them  in  its 
manufacture? 

2.  Upon  an  outline  map  of  the  world,  color  the 
countries  noted  for  silk  production,  also  indicate  those 
countries  leading  in  its  manufacture. 

3.  Trace  a  shipment  of  raw^  silk  from  Hong  Kong 
to  Paterson,  N.  J.  What  steamship  and  railroad  lines 
w^ould  perhaps  carry  it  and  where  would  transfers  be 
made? 

4.  What  tests  can  you  apply  to  determine  the  (pial- 
itv  of  silk? 


138  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

5.  Gather  some  mulberry  lea\'es  in  the  fall,  then 
obtain  from  the  Department  of  Agriculture  some  silk- 
worm eggs  in  January  and  practically  illustrate  silk 
culture. 

6.  How  does  the  Government  encourage  silk  manu- 
facture? 

7.  Examine  and  discuss  specimens  of  cocoons,  raw 
silk,  gros-grain  cloth,  tussar  silk,  pongee,  satin  and 
velvets. 

8.  What  position  in  the  silk  trade  do  the  cities  of 
Shanghai,  Canton  and  Yokohama  occupy? 

9.  \\  hat  is  mercerized  silk? 


OF    THE    United    States 


139 


CHAPTER    XVI 


THE   LUMBER   INDUSTRY 

llie  ]nml)er  l)usiness  occupies  fourth  place  among- 
the  great  industries  of  this  country.  Few  of  us  fully 
realize  its  ^■astness.     It  exceeds  in  ^'alue  the  producti^jn 


Courtesy  Gt.  Northern  Ry.  Co. 
TIMIJEK     KEOION    OF    THE    NORTHWEST 

(if  irou,  c(ial,  i)etn  ileum,  gold,  sih'er.  copper  and  other 
metals,  added  tn  the  tutal  value  of  the  entire  wheat  crop 
of  the  1^'nited  States.  The  hnnher  business  is  more 
highly  de\eloped  in  this  country  than  in  any  other  ])art 
of  the  world. 

Lumber  Regions  cf  the  United  States. — Although 
there  are  forests  in  every  state,  there  are  four  distinct 
districts   of   this   countrv   which   produce   the   lumber   of 


140 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


commerce — the  Northeastern,  comprising  the  Xew  Eng- 
land States,  Xew  York  and  Pennsylvania ;  the  Northern, 
comprising  the  States  of  Wisconsin,  Michigan  and  Min- 
nesota; the  Southern,  including  Virginia,  North  Caro- 
lina, South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama,  Miss- 
issippi, Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkansas  and  Missouri;  and 
the  Pacific,  including  California.  (3reg(in  and  AVash- 
ington. 

The  Southern  district,  up  to  the  present  time,  has 
held  first  place,  as  here  is  the  home  of  the  long-leaf  yellow 


Courtesy  Gt.  Northern  Ry.  Co. 
A    FOREST    OF    MAMMOTH    OREGON    FIR 

pine,  that  peerless  American  tree,  the  product  of  which 
may  soon  be  practicall}-  exhausted  if  the  ])resent 
slaughter  continues.  In  this  belt  are  located  half  of  the 
sawmills  of  llic  Cnilcd  States,  employing  about  half  of 
the  labor  engaged  in  hnnbering.  The  largest  market  for 
yellow  pine  lumber  is  Pensacola,  Fla.,  closely  ft)llowed 
by  Mobile.  Ala.,  Gulf])ort  and  I'ascagoula,  Miss.,  and 
Sabine  Pass,  Texas.  This  lumber  is  shipped  to  all  parts 
of  the  ci\ili/e(l  world,  yet  t hrrc-fourths  of  the  supply  is 
used  in  this  countrw 


OF    THE    United    States 


141 


The  leading  lumber  district  of  the  future  will  cer- 
tainly be  the  Pacific,  as  the  supply  from  the  Northern 
and  Northeastern  districts  is  practically  exhausted  and 
that  of  the  Southern  cannot  last  long".  Authorities  claim 
that  ten  years  will  exhaust  the  sui)])ly  at  the  present 
rate  of  consumption.  The  Northern  district  has  been 
the  great  source  from  which  we  have  been  getting  our 
supply  of  white  pine,  the  sawmills  at  ^linneapolis,  at 
one   time,   ranking  among  the   greatest   in   this   country, 


Courtesy  So.  Pacific  Ry.  Co. 
\VA\\'0NA— GIAXT    RF.DWOOD 


but  now  the  forests  are  practically  exterminated  and 
few  of  the  mills  are  running.  The  many  varieties  of 
conifers — hard  ])ine,  hemlock,  hr  and  spruce  are  found 
in  jjrofusion  in  all  the  timjjer  regions,  but  produce  grades 
of  lumber  inferior  to  the  white  pine  ;  however,  they  are 
rapidly  coming  into  use  as  the  only  available  substitutes. 
^-  The  forests  of  the  Pacific  region,  at  i^resent  the 
heaxiest  of  the  world,  consist  almost  entirely  of  conifers, 
red  fir,  S])ruce,  hemlock,  yellow  pine  and  the  giant  red- 
wood.    In  the  Northern  part  of  this  region  one-third  of 


142  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

the  territory  is  covered  by  forests  of  fir.  These  trees 
sometimes  attain  a  height  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
and  many  are  as  much  as  fifteen  feet  in  (Hameter.  The 
trunks  are  so  clear  and  straiglit  that  they  are  in  demand 
the  world  over  1)y  ship-builders,  who  use  them  for  masts. 
A  staft'  of  this  wood  supports  the  British  flag'  over 
Windsor  Castle,  and  another  upholds  the  Japanese  ban- 
ner over  the  Mikado's  palace  at  Tokio.  The  masts  and 
spars  of  the  great  fleets  of  Great  Britain  and  Germany 
were  shipped  from  Oregon  and  AVashington.  This  wood 
rivals  ])ine  in  lightness  and  oak  in  strength. 

The  most  wonderful  trees  in  the  world  arc  the  giant 
Secjuoia,  or  redwood,  of  California.  h^ortunately.  the 
Government  has  protected  the  choicest  specimens,  from 
the  ravages  of  the  lumberman,  by  including  them  in 
Xational  Parks.  Tlie  tallest  of  these  measures  almost 
foui-  hundred  feet,  and  the  largest  diameter  is  forty  feet. 
Xo  man  knows  how  old  these  trees  are,  but  they  are, 
without  doubt,  the  largest  and  oldest  li\ing  things  in  the 
world.  Some  are  estimated  to  be  eight  thousand  \e;'.rs 
old.  When  Moses  was  found  floating  among  tlie  bul- 
rushes, some  of  these  trees  had  l)ark  a  foot  thick.  One 
of  them  fell,  a  thousand  years  or  so  ago,  and  it  is  huge 
enough  for  .a  coach  and  six  to  driNc  upon  the  greater 
j^art  of  its  length.  Another  was  some  time  damaged  by 
fire,  and  a  road,  which  is  wide  enough  for  two  stages 
to  ])ass  within  its  trunk,  has  been  built  through  it.  The 
wood  is  light  and  red  and  makes  e.Kcellent  shingles  and 
siding,  which,  on  account  of  the  scarcity  ot  pine,  is 
rai)idly  coming  into  use. 

The  place  of  white  pine  for  interior  linivhing  has 
been  largely  taken  by  the  hardwoods,  oak,  bircli,  nia])le. 
beech,  hickory,  sycamore  and  a^li,  found  to  some  extent 
in  almost  cverv  state  ])ro(lucing  lumber.  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  is  the  largest  hardwood  market  in  the  world, 
and  San  Francisco  has  also  a  large  domestic  and  foreign 


OF    THE    United    States 


143 


trade  in  this  class  of  woods.    The  finest  furniture  is  made 
exchisively  of  hard  woods. 

"J'he  methiids  used  in  a  logging  camp  are  very  inter- 
esting and  instructi\e.  They  vary  according  to  local 
conditions,  but,  in  the  main,  they  are  the  same  in  all  the 
districts.  The  ])rincii)al  stages  are  the  felling,  by  use  of 
axes  or  "cross-cut""  saws,  the  sawing  of  the  trees  into 
logs  of  the  desired  length,  and  the  transporting  of  these 
logs    from    the    forests    to    the    sawmills.      Only    a    few 


Courtesy  E.  D.  Luhaitgh.  Chicagu,  Ills. 
A    LOAD    OF    WISCONSIN    LOGS— -12,000    FT. 


years  ago  water  was  the  only  means  used  for  such  trans- 
portation, but,  under  ])revailing  methods,  railroads  are 
built  directly  into  the  timber  districts.  Formerly  the 
loading  upon  cars  was  done  by  the  use  of  oxen  or  horses, 
but  in  the  modern  camp  this  slow,  pictures<|ue  system 
has  l)een  superseded  by  loading  machines,  wdiich  are,  in 
reality,  "donkey-engines"  in  box  cars,  which  operate 
reels,  wound  with  steel  cables  from  one-half  to  one  inch 


144 


Inj)ustrial-Commercial    Geography 


thick,  and  from  five  Iiundrcd  to  twent^-fivc  hundred  feet 
l(ing-.  The  cable  is  fastened  to  the  log  and  it  is  drawn 
quickly  to  the  track,  another  cable,  swung  from  a  large 
crane,  catches  the  log  and  lifts  it  into  place  upon  the  car. 
In  the  Northwest  the  logs  are  sometimes  "skidded" 
in  ditches  or  "tlumes"  from  the  interior  camps  to  the 
mills.  One  of  these  tlumes,  in  California,  is  over  sixty 
miles  long,  and  from  one  week's  end  to  another  the  lum- 
ber goes  sliding  down  this  flume,  crossing  deep  gulches, 
and  skirting  the  sides  of  the  canyon  until  it  reaches  the 
market. 


Coiirlcsy  Long-Bell  Lhr.  Co. 
A    RETAIL    LUMllKk    \.\K\) 


In  the  Xorthwesl  region,  the  rafting  liusiness  has  at- 
tained inunense  proportions,  as  this  is  the  cheapest 
method  for  conveying  the  logs  to  .San  l'"raneisco.  In  still 
water,  adjacent  to  the  rivers,  an  inmiense  "cradle"  is  built 
ol  heavy  timbers  between  rows  of  piling,  which  allows 
the  raft  to  rise  and  fall  with  the  water.  The  logs  are  now- 
lifted,  one  at  a  time,  into  iho  "cradle"  b\  a  derrick.  When 
the  log.s  are  all   in   place  they  are  >ecinelv   fastened   with 


OF    THE    United    States  145 

heavy  chains,  seventy-five  or  one  hmnh'ed  tons  of  which 
are  sometimes  used  for  one  raft.  Many  of  these  rafts  are 
frequently  towed  from  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  River 
to  San  Francisco.  One  raft,  which  recently  made  this 
trip,  the  result  of  a  season's  work  in  the  fir  forests,  was 
over  seven  hundred  feet  long,  fifty-five  feet  wide  and 
drew  twenty-three  feet  of  water. 

The  majority  of  the  large  sawmills  arc  built  beside 
some  body  of  Avater,  in  order  to  Ije  able  to  handle  the  logs 
easily  and  with  a  minimum  cost,  to  provide  a  place  for 
storing  a  reserAe  supply  and.  frequently,  that  the  sawed 
lumber  may  be  shipped  cheaply. 

A  large  sawmill  in  operation  is  a  fascinating  part 
of  the  industr}'.  There  is  the  shriek  of  the  saw,  as  it 
revolves  with  lightning  speed  through  what  was  recently 
a  monarch  of  the  forest.  Then,  there  is  the  clashing  of 
chains,  the  roar  of  the  machinery,  as  the  log  carriage 
moves  back  and  forth,  and  onward  moves  the  lum1:)er, 
first  to  the  kilns,  then  to  the  ])lanning  mills  and  later 
to  the  markets  of  the  world.  In  one  year  enough  yellow 
])ine  lumber  alone  is  sawed,  which  if  sawed  into  boards 
one  inch  thick  and  one  foot  wide,  would,  placed  end  to 
end,  reach  from  the  earth  to  the  moon  eight  times. 
Three-fourths  of  this  lumber  would  build  a  house  large 
enough  to  accommodate  all  the  men,  women  and  children 
in  this  country,  giving  each  a  room  containing  sixteen 
square  feet  of  space. 

The  men  of  the  lumljer  camps  are  usually  Scandi- 
navians, although  many  French  Canadians  are  found  in 
the  Northern  camps.  Tn  the  South  many  negroes  are 
employed  in  the  mills,  but  they  do  not  w^ork  well  in  the 
forests. 

Forest  Conservation. — Russia  leads  the  world  in  the 
planting  of  forests,  the  L'nit-jd  States  in  their  wholesale 
destruction.  Recent  action  on  the  part  of  the  (rovern- 
ment,  toward  conservation  of  timber  tracts,  is  a  step  in 
the  right  direction.     It   is  to   be  hoped  that   future   ad- 


146  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

ministrations  will  take  further  action  to  prevent  ruthless 
and  unnecessary  destruction  of  timber.  In  other  coun- 
tries a  number  of  young  trees  must  be  planted  to  replace 
each  one  cut.  Here  this  requirement  is  not  only  ignored, 
but,  through  carelessness,  what  were  recently  virgin 
tracts  of  timber  land  are  often  blackened,  desolate,  bar- 
ren, swept  yearly  by  forest  fires,  producing  nothing  but 
scrub  oak  and  stunted  field-j^ines.  There  is  not  enough 
standing  timl)er  left  in  some  places  to  hold  the  melting 
snows  until  late  in  the  season,  allowing  them  to  melt 
gradually  and  distribute  the  water  supply.  Consequently 
we  have  great  floods  early  in  the  spring  and  droughts 
in  the  summer,  the  rich  soil  is  washed  into  the  rivers  and 
on  to  the  sea.  All  these  disasters  occur  because  our 
people  do  not  realize  what  a  valuable  heritage  we  have. 
The  attention  of  every  one  should  be  directed  toward  the 
National  Forestry  Department,  which  can  solve  this 
great  economic  problem  if  given  proper  support  b}  the 
people. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  What  l)enefits  are  derived  from  forests  besides 
their  use  for  lumber  and  fuel? 

2.  What  cities  are  great  luml)er  markets? 

3.  \\'hat  countries  supply  boxwood?  Rosewood? 
Sandalwood?  Ebony?  Cinchona?  Mahogany?  Circassian 
walnut? 

4.  How  does  the  I'nilcd  States  Government  protect 

f( ) rests  ? 

5.  Make  a  list  of  soft-wood  trees,  also  one  of  hard- 
woods. How  many  of  these  do  you  know  .^  How  nian\- 
grow  in  your  own  state? 

6.  In  what  way  has  inm  c  ir  steel  taken  the  place  of 
lumber?  In  the  manufacture  i>\  what  article  has  lumber 
taken  the  place  of  rags? 


OF    THE    United    States  147 

7.  Indicate  the  lumber  regions  of  the  United  States 
on  an  outhne  map,  showing  also  the  principal  markets. 
A\'hat  railroads  haul  the  lumber  to  the  markets? 

8.  In  what  way  is  lumber  of  value  to  the  railroads? 
To  the  tanner?    To  the  paper  maker? 

9.  For  what  use  is  yellow  pine  best  suited?  White 
pine?     Redwood?     Cedar?     Spruce?     Oak?     Maple? 

10.  A\'hat  is  a  timber  reserve?  A  timber  claim? 
How  does  the  Government  encourage  the  planting  of 
trees?     Do  the  individual  states  assist  in  this  manner? 

11.  From  what  kind  of  trees  are  turpentine  and 
pitch  obtained?  h^rom  what  lumber  district  is  the  great- 
est amount  obtained? 


148  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XVII 

FURNITURE-FROM    FOREST 
TO   FIRESIDE 

There  is  as  much  deception  practised  in  the  manu- 
facture of  furniture  as  there  is  in  the  manufacture  of 
clothing-,  and  every  one  should  know  some  of  the  points 
of  excellence  in  order  to  purchase  intelligently.  The 
center  of  the  furniture  industry  of  this  country,  and  per- 
haps of  the  world,  is  Grand  Rapids,  Michigan.  In  this 
delightful  Northern  city,  any  amount  of  time  may  be 
profital)ly  spent,  visiting  one  or  more  of  the  great  fac- 
tories and  studying  the  processes  of  manufacture.  So 
famous  has  the  Grand  Rapids  furniture  become  that  buy- 
ers from  all  over  the  world  come  there  to  make  their 
selections.  For  their  convenience  there  are  three  im- 
mense buildings  used  exclusively  for  the  display  of  sam- 
ples, over  a  million  dollars  worth  in  each  of  them.  This 
is  in  addition  to  the  display  rooms  maintained  by  each 
of  the  factories  located  there,  in  fact  there  are  several 
factories  whose  display  rooms  contain  samples  of  their 
own  maimfacture  thai  will  run  over  the  half-million 
dollar  mark  in  value.  l'"actories  from  all  oxer  the  coun- 
try constantly  keep  their  samples  on  (lis]i]ay  in  the  gen- 
eral display  buildings,  and  find  it  a  ])rotitable  investment 
on  account  of  the  prestige  gaint'd  by  being  rc])resented 
at  "furniture  head(|uarters." 

Good  ftiniifiirc  strongly  a]jpeals  t<i  pniplc  n\  intelli- 
gence and  refinement.  It  creates  in  tluin  a  keen  desire 
for  acquisition  and  association.  If  its  ap])earance  and 
style  are  pleasing,  its  acquirement  is  likely  to  be  sought. 
It  should  also  show  (jualities  that  will  permit  <if  its  treat- 
ment as  an  heirloom,  good  for  generations  to  come.      To 


OF    THE    United    States 


149 


possess  these  qualities  furniture  must  receive  artistic 
and  skillful  treatment  as  to  design,  material  and  con- 
struction, being-  dependent  alike  upon  capable  service 
of  both  the  designer  and  the  artisan.  The  designer  must 
have  a  wide  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  times,  the 
characteristics  of  which  he  seeks  to  portray.  His  ac- 
([uaintance   with  the  productions  of  other  periods  must 


Fig.  1.      Plain -Sawed 


Fig.  2.     Quarter -Sawed 


L. 


•1 


Cdiirlrsy  S.  C.  Julnison  &  Sons 


be  extensive,  lie  must  study  the  life  and  spirit  of  the 
people  whose  ideas  he  seeks  to  illustrate.  He  should 
also  have  the  in\entive  al)ility  to  set  forth  in  pleasing 
and  practical  form  his  own  inter])retati()n  of  the  culture 
and  intellectual  strength  reached  by  designers  of  previous 
ages. 

The  furniture  of  the  ages  is  a  book,  on  the  pag^es  of 


150  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

wliich  are  indelibly  engraved  the  prevailing  architeeture 
of  the  peoples  that  have  occupied  the  stage  throughout 
the  drama  of  human  existence.  Many  parallels  could  be 
drawn  between  Louis  XI\'  furniture  and  the  gorgeous 
dress  of  that  period  ;  between  the  classical  furniture  of 
Napoleon's  time  and  the  severe  gowns  of  the  Empire ; 
and  the  stately  furniture  of  the  Colonial  period  and  the 
e(|ually  stately  costumes. 

The  Renaissance  raised  furniture-making  to  a  fine  art. 
Pupils  were  apprenticed  to  a  master  and  studied  with 
him  until  they  had  perfected  their  craft,  when  they 
opened  workshops  of  their  own.  The  pieces  produced 
in  these  great  studio-shops  united  beauty  with  utility. 
Designs  were  made  with  reference  to  their  setting,  and 
htiuses  possessed  a  harmony  that  had  hitherto  been  ab- 
sent. This  period  produced  some  of  the  greatest  masters 
the  world  has  ever  known.  The  genius,  which  for  cen- 
turies had  been  struggling  for  expression,  burst  forth  in 
a  mighty  Hood.  The  creations  of  the  great  masters  of 
this  period  form  a  monument  that  becomes  more  impos- 
ing with  the  passing  of  the  years.  There  have  always  been 
those  who  preserved  and  cherished  the  work  of  the  great 
masters,  and,  in  recent  years,  there  has  been  a  gradual 
turning  toward  the  beautiful  in  furniture  and  the  styles 
of  the  great  masters  are  ])eing  copied  and  restored. 

Furniture  Designs.^ — Many  of  the  designers  of  the 
early  (.cnturies  signed  their  work,  just  as  the  great 
painters  jjlact'd  tlieir  names  u])on  their  canxasses,  and 
this  custom  is  now  being  restored  by  some  of  the  great 
factories,  to  assure  the  possessors  that  their  furniture  is 
correct  in  design  and  superior  in  workmanship.  The  old 
masters  brought  to  l)ear  upon  their  work  the  whole 
])iiwer  (if  their  being,  no  detail  was  a  trifle,  there  were  no 
dark  curners  to  be  slighted.  Thex'  selected  their  wood 
with  the  greatest  care,  its  kind,  grain  ;in(l  tilire  must  be 
of  such  a  character  as  to  best  lend  itself  to  the  finished 
jiroduct.      In  order  to  create  furniture  to  meet  the  ideals 


OF    THE    United    States 


151 


of  the  old  masters,  designers  of  the  highest  type,  who 
have  made  a  Hfe  study  of  the  work,  must  be  secured. 
The  very  finest  woods  from  the  markets  of  the  world 
must  be  obtained  and  the  men  in  the  shop  must  be 
trained.  In  many  of  the  large  factories  are  workmen 
who  have  been  there  since  they  were  bo3/s,  and  in  some 
cases  their  fathers  spent  their  lives  there  before  them, 
handing  their  knowledge  down  to  their  sons.     To  them 


I'RODL'CT    OF    A    .MANUAL    TRAIN  l.\(i     SCHOOL  - 

their  work  is  not  merely  a  means  by  which  to  make  their 
living-,  but  to  create  expression  in  their  work  of  the  high 
ideals  of  the  masters  which  they  interpret. 

Selecting  Material. — The  material  from  which  furni- 
ture is  to  be  fashioned  must  not  only  be  well-seasoned 
and  perfectly  sound,  but  it  should  be  so  cut  as  to  show 
nature's  handiwork  in  the  beautiful  tracings  and  color- 
ings to  be  seen  in  the  texture.     All  of  this  takes  care. 


1 5-' 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


dressing  and  joining  must  be  skilfull\-  done,  and  there 
must  be  no  dishonest  workmanship  or  a  shoddy  product 
will  result.  Months  must  elapse  between  the  importa- 
tion of  the  raw  material  and  the  da}-  when  it  is  finished 
into  furniture. 

It  is  an  interestirii;-  process  that  transforms  r()UL;h 
lumber  into  a  finished  piece  of  good  furniture.  The 
wood  goes  through  a  long  drying  process:  after  reaching 
the  factory  every  piece  of  wood  must  be  kept  in  the  dry- 
kilns   from   one   to   two   years,   depending   upon    its   size 


AX    K.\I'K.\SI\  I-: 


Courtesy  Bcrkcy  &  Gn.v 
AIU.K— rr  AI.IAX     REXAISSAXCE 


and  thickness,  for  it  must  be  thoroughly  seasoned. 
While  much  of  the  work  in  the  manufacture  of  cheap 
furniture  is  done  b\-  machiner}-.  in  making  good  furniture 
most  of  the  labor  is  done  ])_\  hand.  When  the  pieces 
arc  finally  ready  to  join  together,  then  comes  the  process 
of  smoothing,  staining,  varnishing,  rubl)ing  with  pumice, 
re-varnishing,  re-rubbing,  all  by  hand,  many  times  over, 
making  haste  im])ossible  but  achievement  certain.  The 
completed  pieces  should  not  conceal  any  careless  weak- 
nesses under  an  attracti\e  external  appearance.  To 
I)ro(1ucr  furniture'  of  ihr  highest  lyi^e  means  more  than 


OF    THF.    United    States  153 

the   use   of   good   material,   it   recjuires   lime,   experience, 
the  sense  of  fitness  and  the  artistic  spirit. 

Mission  Furniture. — One  of  the  most  common  styles 
in  furniture  is  the  Mission,  so  named  because  it  was  made 
by  the  earl}-  priests  for  use  in  their  missions.  Descrip- 
tion of  this  style  is  unnecessary,  as  most  people  are  fa- 
miliar with  its  design.  It  is  one  of  the  easiest  styles  to 
make  and,  consequently,  a  favorite  style  among  ama- 
teurs and  in  manual  training"  shops  in  the  schools.  In 
many  schools  it  is  a  very  common  thing  for  students  t(J 
turn  out  tables,  desks  and  other  pieces  that  could  not 
be  duplicated  in  the  stores  for  less  than  fifty  dollars. 
Flanders  and  Holland  Dutch  furniture  is  of  somewhat 
similar  design,  especially  in  finish.  It  bears  strong-  char- 
acteristics of  the  early  Seventeenth-Century  styles,  which 
ha\'e  been  revived  in  recent  years.  All  of  these  are 
usually  made  of  solid  <iak  and  are  built  to  stand  the  test 
of  time.  The  finish  is  usual  1}-  in  dark  brown,  stained 
or  fumed  and  they  are  seldom  varnished,  having  a  soft 
finish  instead. 

The  Coli'iiial  styles  have  been  modeled  from  those  first 
used  by  the  colonists  in  this  country,  many  originals  of 
which  are  yet  preserved  as  priceless  heirlooms.  The  de- 
signs have  always  leaned  toward  simplicity.  It  is  this 
(|uality  that  renders  Colonial  furniture  as  satisfactory 
today  as  when  it  came  from  the  hands  of  its  originators. 
The  bed  with  four  tall  posts  belongs  to  this  period. 
Sometimes  the  pieces  have  the  characteristic  leaf  and 
feather  carving  on  the  posts,  and  the  chicken-claw  feet, 
and  it  is  made  in  walnut  and  mahogany. 

Louis  XV  Models. — A  favorite  design  among  peo- 
ple of  taste  is  that  of  the  Louis  XA"^  models.  To  con- 
form with  tastes  of  the  day,  decorators  of  this  period 
introduced  the  Rococo  style.  The  workmanship  of  this 
furniture,  which  was  of  high  order,  bordered  on  the  fan- 
tastic, and  the  greatest  artists  of  the  day  bestowed  their 


154 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


skill  upon  it.  While  the  designs  were  extravagant  in  the 
extreme,  abounding  in  curves  and  carvings,  the  spirit 
of  the  times  is  well  shown  in  the  revival  of  this  style. 
During"  the  reign  of  Louis  XVI  straight  lines  replaced 
the  flowing  scrolls.  Horizontal  bands  superseded  the 
broken  and  tortuous  mouldings.  Irregular  panels, 
painted  with  cupids  and  rose  garlands,  gave  way  to 
rectangular  spaces  ornamented  with  classic  emblems. 
The  refined  intiuence  of  Marie  Antoinette  lives  in  the  re- 
vival of  these  beautiful  designs,  which  combine  grace 
with   simplicity,   and   they   are   as   suitable   in   a    refined 


Courtesy  Luce  Fuyn.  Co. 
A    Ckl-'AT    ITRNITUKE    FACTORY 


American  home   of  the  present   day  as  lliey   were   in   a 
French  palace  of  the  Eighteenth  Centurv. 

The  Sheraton. — The  work  of  Sheraton  is  the  most 
])opular  of  any  of  the  I*'nglish  designers.  I  lis  creations 
have  tile  imaginati\e  (luality  combined  with  ])erfect  pro- 
portion and  rare  restraint.  Ornament  for  ornament's 
sake  was  never  countenanced  b}'  him.  I  le  used  the  fiuted 
post  of  the  time  of  Louis  X\'l  with  st'\ere  lines  and 
(juiel  ornament.  Me  made  use  of  the  lluted  columns 
and   often   u>ed   scjuare   supi)orts,   beliexing   that   a   rect- 


OF    THE    United    States  155 

angular  back  demanded  a  rectaus^ular  base.  On  the  same 
theory  he  always  combined  curved  supports  with  curved 
models.  He  worked  princi])ally  in  mahogany,  but 
wielded  other  colored  woods  as  the  painter  wields  his 
pigments.  His  decorations  consisted  almost  entirely 
of  marcjuetry  and  inlay,  although  a  lightly  carved  leaf 
was  sometimes  countenanced.  Jle  met  the  fate  of  many 
men  who  have  attempted  to  do  a  thing  too  well,  but  his 
furniture  will,  perhaps,  live  forever.  His  untiring  and 
hopeful  labors  gave  to  the  world  one  of  the  most  beau- 
tiful styles  of  furniture  ever  designed. 

Chippendale  was  another  famous  English  designer; 
however,  he  was  an  adapter  of  styles  rather  than  an 
originator.  His  mure  solid  designs,  with  cabriole  legs 
and  claw-and-ball  feet  and  divided  splat  back  were  taken 
from  the  Dutch,  and  the  straight  square  heavy  legs  from 
the  Gothic  style.  His  most  beautiful  creations,  with 
backs  ornamented  with  exquisitely  carved  ribbons  and 
lovers'  knots,  and  the  car\cd  cabriole  leg,  were  from  the 
French  ;  while  a  later  design,  used  ])rincipally  in  chairs, 
with  an  interlaced  strap  work  back,  was  from  the  Chinese. 
Once  seen,  this  beautiful  design  will  always  l)e  readily 
recognized. 

The  styles  of  the  William  and  Mary  period  occupy 
a  uni(|ue  place  among  English  designs,  ^^'ith  the  ac- 
cession of  William,  Dutch  artisans  flocked  to  England 
and  the  intermingling  of  designs  worked  many  changes 
in  the  handicraft  of  that  country.  The  tendency  seemed 
to  be  toward  the  prtjduction  of  more  graceful  and  lighter 
furniture.  The  fundamental  principles  in  these  designs 
were  of  the  underb racing,  turned  uprights,  and  other 
vigorous,  straightforward  designs  to  portray  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  period. 

Furniture  of  the  T'lemish  and  Italian  Renaissance  is 
distinguished  first  by  the  abundance  of  hand-carving. 
Heads  and  grotesque  masks  were  introduced,  but  always 
with  marked  elTect.     The  Dutch  excelled  in   marquetry 


156  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

and  the  Italians  in  boldness  of  design.  In  the  great 
Grand  Rapids  factories  there  are  men  who  work  as  pa- 
tiently and  as  skilfully,  while  carving-  a  design,  as  any 
master  ever  worked  upon  the  canvas.  Time  is  never  an 
item  to  be  considered,  as  the  designs  of  the  old  masters 
must  be  reproduced  with  ecjual  skill.  One  dining-room 
set  in  a  Grand  Rapids  display  room  represents  a  year's 
work  of  one  man.  Only  four  sets  were  made,  one  was 
sold  in  New  York,  one  in  Philadelphia  and  another  in 
Chicago,  the  fourth  will  probably  go  to  St.  Louis.  The 
set  w^as  priced  at  five  thousand  dollars.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  solid  and  stable  designs  ever  constructed. 

There  are  other  designs  galore,  but  a  study  of  these 
principal  productions  will  prove  very  interesting,  aside 
from  the  standpoint  of  commercial  importance.  In  our 
homes  en\'ironment  plays  an  important  part,  and  a  spirit 
of  harmony  and  good  cheer  should  emanate  from  fur- 
nishings and  decoration.  American  organization  has 
greatly  cheapened  the  cost  of  furniture,  and  the  inxention 
and  use  of  miulcrn  machinery  has  also  pla^'ed  an  im- 
portant i)art. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  What  is  veneered  furniture?  Why  is  furniture 
made  from  ex]X'nsi\'e  woods  u>ually  xeneered? 

2.  Can  you  distinguish  ihe  difference  between 
veneered  and  solid  furniture?  What  is  grained  furni- 
ture? 

3.  Name  the  greatest  furniture  markets  in  this 
Country.-'  What  woods  are  used  most  in  tlie  manufacture 
of  pianos?     In  the  making  of  chairs  and  tables? 

4.  \\  hat  is  inlaid  furniture?  W  hat  woods  are  gen- 
erally used  in  its  manufacture?  W  hy  is  (|uarter-sawed 
wood  more  valuable  than  straight-sawed? 


OF    THE    United    States  157 

5.  Obtain  specimens  of  woods  of  various  kinds 
which  are  finished  in  different  manners.  Why  are  some 
articles  of  furniture  varnished  several  times,  while  others 
are  simply  stained  and  rubbed? 

6.  If  possi])le,  ^•isit  a  furniture  factor}'  and  follow 
the  wood  from  the  dry-kiln  to  the  show-room. 

7.  Visit  a  manual  training  department  and  inspect 
the  work.  Learn  how  wood  is  prepared,  how  joinings 
are  made  and  finish  applied. 

8.  \\'hy  does  a  highly  polished,  varnished  article 
fre(|uently  "check"?     How  can  this  be  prevented? 


9.     A\'hat  is  the   most   expensive  wood  used  in   the 
lufacture  of  fui 
for  black  walnut? 


manufacture  of  furniture?     Where  is  the  greatest  market 


158  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XVIIl 

PORTLAND   CEMENT   AND    CON- 
CRETE  CONSTRUCTION 

During-  the  past  few  years  the  ])rice  of  htmber  has 
advanced  so  rapidly  that  a  substitute  for  its  use  has  be- 
come imperative.  It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  such  a 
substitute  has  been  found  which  affords  the  added  fea- 
tures uf  moderate  cost  and  durability.  /\t  the  same  time 
this  comparatively  new  material  possesses  all  the  ad- 
vantages of  lumber  in  the  line  of  beautiful  designs  which 
may  be  constructed  from  it,  as  many  unique  and  pleasing 
effects  may  be  obtained. 

Portland  Cement  is  an  in\'ention  of  modern  times, 
liaxing  come  into  universal  use  only  within  the  past 
twenty-five  years,  or  less.  Concrete  made  from  a  natural 
cement  was  used  for  construction  purposes  by  the  ancient 
Romans,  who  secured  good  results  from  a  mixture  of 
slaked  lime,  volcanic  dust  and  crushed  stone.  W  hile  this 
material  was  crude,  in  comparison  with  that  in  use  to- 
day, it  ])roduced  an  artificial  stone  which  has  stood  the 
test  of  time  for  nearly  two  thousand  years.  Many  of 
tlie  works  in  Rome  are  in  perfect  state  of  preservation 
today.  Concrete  construction,  of  similar  natiux,  done  in 
])rehistoric  times,  has  also  ])een  unearthed  in  the  arid 
lands  of  tile  western  ]Kirl  of  the  United  States. 

In  1824  |(ise])h  As])(lin.  of  Leeds.  England,  secured 
a  patent  for  the  manufacture  of  Portland  Cement,  which 
he  so  nanuMl  on  acciiunt  of  its  resemblance,  in  color,  to 
a  ])i)pular  linu'^time  (|uarri(.'(l  on  the  Island  of  Portland. 

Manufacture  was  at  once  begun,  but  ])rogress  was 
\'erv    slow    until    about    iX^^o,    when    its    success    was    in- 


OF    THE    United    States 


159 


sured,  commercially,  by  the  adoption  of  improved  meth- 
ods of  manufacture  and  general  recognition  of  its  merits 
as  a  building  material. 

The  manufacture  of  Portland  Cement  was  early 
begun  by  the  Germans  and  the  French,  who,  by  reason 
of  their  more  scientific  efiforts,  greatly  improved  the 
quality  of  the  finished  ]jr()duct,  as  well  as  the  i)rocesses 
of  mamifacture.  The  process  was  first  brought  to  the 
United  States  in  1872,  but  it  did  not  come  into  general 
use  for  nearh'  twentv  vears. 


Courtesy  Atlas  I'urtland  Cement  Co. 
CONCRETE    FENCE    POSTS 


Portland  Cement  is  manufactured  from  a  mixture 
of  two  materials — one  of  them  supplying  the  lime,  for 
which  limestone,  or  the  softer  material,  chalk,  is  used — 
and  clay,  which  is  supplied  by  a  soft  clay  or  often  a 
hardened  clay,  such  as  shale  rock.  The  exact  proportions 
of  this  mixture  must  be  determined  by  chemical  tests, 
or  the  finished  material  will  be  unsatisfactory.  The 
materials  are  crushed  separately,  mixed  in  the  proper 
quantities  and  then  ground  to  a  \'ery  fine  powder.     'Jdiis 


160  Ixi)USTRIAI-C()MMKRCIAL     GEOGRAPHY 

powder  is  then  fed  into  long-  rotary  kilns,  which  are  iron 
tubes  about  six  feet  to  twelve  feet  in  diameter,  and  from 
one  hundred  to  two  hundred  fifty  feet  long,  lined  with 
fire  brick.  Powdered  coal  is  used  for  burning  this  powder 
and  is  injected  into  the  kilns  l)y  an  air  blast.  A  tem- 
perature of  about  three  thousand  degrees  Fahrenheit  is 
obtained  in  this  manner;  greater  heat  than  is  used  in 
melting  iron,  and  the  hue,  carefully  i)roportioned  powder 
is  fused  to  a  clinker,  resembling  lava.  This  clinker  is 
cooled,  crushed  and  ground  again  into  a  still  finer  powder, 
ready  to  be  placed  in  storage  for  shipment. 

Cement  is  manufactured  in  many  parts  of  the  United 
States;  Pennsylvania,  Missouri,  Illinois,  Kansas,  Iowa 
and  California  perhaps  being  in  the  lead,  yet  the  materials 
are  so  common  that  immense  plants  are  being  estab- 
lished at  new  locations  every  year.  The  abundance  of 
good  sand,  in  most  places,  and  low  freight  rates  on  the 
same,  and  crushed  stone  or  Hint,  greatly  cheapens  the 
process  of  concrete  construction. 

Concrete,  or  artificial  stone,  is  made  by  mixing  a 
coarse  aa:eregate  of  broken  rock,  or,  clean  coarse  cinder 
with  clean  sand  and  Portland  Cement,  using  enough 
water  to  make  a  mushy  mixture.  The  cement  and  water 
cause  the  mixture  to  begin  to  stififen  in  half  an  horn-, 
and  in  from  ten  to  twenty-four  hours  it  becomes  hard 
enough  to  resist  an  impression.  In  a  month's  time  the 
mass  becomes  a  solid  stone.  It  will  harden  under  water 
in  the  same  manner,  which  nia]<cs  it  the  most  desirable 
material  for  l)ridge,  dam  and  tunnel  construction. 

Uses  of  Concrete. — There  are  countless  uses  for  con- 
crete, with  many  of  which  e\ery  one  is  familiar.  Where 
concrete  is  likeh-  to  be  pulled  or  bent,  as  in  buildings, 
dams  and  tanks,  it  is  generally  reinforced  by  imbedding 
iron  or  steel  rods  within  the  construction.  Concrete 
shrinks,  like  other  materials,  when  the  weather  is  cold, 
and  will  crack  unless  either  heavil)-  reinforced  or  jointed 
frequentl}-.      While    ex])erienced    engineers   or   architects 


OF    THE    United    States  i6i 

should  be  employed  in  the  l)iiilding  of  large  structures, 
the  process  is  so  comparatively  simple  that  small  con- 
crete construction  may  be  done  by  workmen  of  little  ex- 
perience. 

After  concrete  is  perfectly  hardened  and  finished, 
it  resists  acetic  acid  more  thoroughly  than  any  other 
materials  of  reasonable  cost.  This  feature  makes  it 
especially  desirable  in  the  construction  of  silos,  as  the 
acid  formed  by  the  decomposition  of  green  food  is  the 
greatest  foe  of  wooden  and  steel  silos.  The  concrete  silo 
is  also  water  and  air-tight,  vermin  and  rat-proof  and  will 
not  burn  or  blow  over  when  empty.  These  same  prop- 
erties make  the  material  unsurpassed  for  barn  con- 
struction. 

Government  statistics  show  that,  notwithstanding 
the  abundance  of  fresh  air,  fresh  food  and  pure  water, 
the  death  rate  is  greater  in  the  country  than  in  the  city. 
Official  tests  of  the  water  supply  have  shown  beyond  a 
doubt  that  the  waters  of  many  ordinary  shallow  and  un- 
protected wells  contain  the  germs  of  such  dangerous 
diseases  as  t3'phoid  fever.  To  prevent  the  polluted  sur- 
face waters  from  seeping  into  the  wells,  many  farmers  are 
covering  them  and  walling  them  up  with  water-tight  con- 
crete. Many  sink  "driven"  wells  and  protect  them  with 
concrete  housings. 

The  principle  of  deep  wells,  for  pure  water,  has 
largely  relegated  the  windmill  and  made  gasoline  en- 
gines a  necessity  upon  the  farm.  These  engines,  and 
h}'draulic  rams,  at  springs,  firndy  set  and  housed  in  con- 
crete, supply  an  abundance  of  water  for  the  concrete 
reservoirs  or  elevated,  reinforced  pressure  tanks,  thus 
giving  the  farmer  all  the  ad\antages  of  a  city  water 
system.  From  these  places  of  storage,  water  is  distrib- 
uted to  float-controlled,  rot-proof  watering  tanks  and 
troughs  of  the  same  material.  Even  springs  and  mouths 
of  drain  tile  are  iml)ro^■ed  and  the  water  made  clean  and 
wholesome   through   the   use   of  concrete. 


1 62 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


The  Department  of  Agriculture  is  stamping  out 
Texas  fever  and  sheep  scab,  as  well  as  many  other  in- 
fectious diseases  upon  the  farm,  l)y  insisting  upon  the 
use  of  dipping-  tanks  in  the  infected  districts.  A  hog 
wallow,  with  concrete  walls  and  bottom,  gives  the  ani- 
mals the  pleasure  of  a  running  stream,  and  at  the  same 
time  protects  them  from  their  greatest  foe,  cholera. 

In  concrete  the  farmers  and  ranchmen  have  found 
the  ideal  floor  material.  Such  floors  not  only  effect  a  sav- 
ing in  feed,  a  shortening  in  the  time  of  fattening  and  a 


Courtesy  Atlas  Portland  Cement  Co. 
A    CONCRETE    Ri:SII)ENCE 


decrease  in  lalxir,  but  such  lldurs  (1m  nut  soak  U])  water 
and  l)ecoiut'  infected  with  disease  germs  of  any  kind. 
Tlieir  surfaces  can  be  easily  cleaned  and  thoroughly  dis- 
infected. They  can  be  easily  repaired,  as  concrete  is  the 
only  material  which  can  be  used  for  any  small  purpose 
without  liaving  to  be  cut  to  the  size  desired.  Careful 
tests  ha\e  shown  that,  through  the  saving  of  grain  from 
vermin  and  other  los--,  concrete  tloors  [)ay  tor  their  con- 
struction within  a  \er\-  few  vears. 


OF    THE    United    States 


163 


The  National  and  State  Governments,  and  the  rail- 
roads, are  lar^e  users  of  concrete,  for  many  ])ur|)oses. 

TIic  concrete  residence  has  l)ecome  an  assured  success, 
on  account  of  its  many  desiral)le  features  and  archi- 
tectural beauty.  Steel  and  concrete  construction  is  revo- 
lutionizing the  architecture  of  our  cities,  making  possible 
the  structure  of  from  twenty  to  forty  stories  in  height, 
as  these  buildings,  representing  an  enormous  investment, 
may  now  be  l)uilt  to  withstand  the  ra\ages  of  time. 

For    veneering    new    l)uildings,    or    protecting    old 


t'oiirlrsy  .Itlas  I'ortlanJ  L'cin.  nt  Co. 

concrete  block  barn 

structures,  or  wherever  the  c<tst  of  concrete  is  prohibiti\'e, 
stucco,  or  cement  plastering,  is  durable,  artistic  and  im- 
pervious to  weather. 

Some  of  the  manv  uses  for  concrete  may  l)e  of  par- 
ticular interest,  as  it  is  now  extremely  practical  for  the 
construction  of  fence  posts,  horse  blocks,  watering 
troughs,  fertilizer  tanks,  retaining  walls,  dams,  columns, 
steps  and  stairs,  sidewalks,  curbs  and  gutters,  barns, 
floors,  drains,  cesspools,  dairies,  silos,  grain  elevators, 
corn  cribs,  etc. 


164 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


The  great  million-bushel  grain  elevators  and  storage 
tanks,  upon  the  Great  Lakes,  are  now  being  built  of  re- 
inforced concrete,  as  are  also  the  newest  and  largest 
docks  for  the  loading  of  iron  ore. 

The  largest  undertakings  in  the  world,  which  could 
not  have  been  accomplished  without  the  use  of  concrete, 
are  the  Kev  AVest  extension  of  the  Plorida  East  Coast 


Courtesy   Mississippi   Pou-cr   Co. 
CONCRETE    I'OWKR    DAM— KEOKLK,     IOWA 


Railway,  the  Keokuk  Dam  across  the  Mississippi  Ri 
and  tlu'  Tanania  Canal,  each  of  which  has  required 
use  of  several  million  barrels  of  cement.  So  great 
universal  has  the  use  of  this  material  become  that 
present  will  no  (bnilil  he  recorded  in  lii-^ldry  as 
Cement  Age. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

I.      I'"nini   an\-   manufacturer  of  (/ement  you   can 
tain    samples   of    ingredients    used.      Exanu"ne    same 
note  ])roperties  of  each. 


ver. 
the 
and 

the 
the 


oD- 

an<l 


OF    THE    Uniti:i)    States  165 

2.  If  tliere  is  a  cement  works  in  your  city,  \^isit 
same  and  note  the  variety  of  articles  manufactured.  The 
workmen  will  explain  important  steps  in  the  process. 

3.  How  many  cement  or  concrete  productions  can 
you  find  about  your  home  and  on  the  way  to  school? 

4.  Contrast  the  construction  of  a  reinforced  con- 
crete structure  with  a  steel-supported  building. 

5.  Why  is  concrete  construction  particularly  de- 
sirable for  elevators,  grain  bins,  silos  and  other  uses 
about  the  farm? 

6.  What  is  the  comparati\e  cost  of  a  brick  or  stone 
house  and  one  of  concrete  blocks  ?  Between  a  boarded 
or  shingled  structure  and  one  covered  with  stucco? 

7.  How  do  cities  uv  contractors  test  concrete  to 
determine  quality? 

8.  Why  do  some  walks  and  walls  scale  and  crumble 
wdiile  others  remain  solid  for  many  years? 

9.  How  should  a  concrete  water-tank  be  constructed 
to  avoid  cracking  when  the  water  freezes? 

10.  What  is  "Joplin  dint""?  A\diy  is  it  valuable  in 
concrete  construction?  Why  must  care  be  used  in  the 
selection  of  sand. 

11.  Could  the  Panama  Canal,  the  Keokuk  Dam  and 
Key  West  Railroad  ha\e  been  constructed  without  the 
use  of  concrete?  Why  w^ere  the  steel  tunnels  under  the 
Detroit  River  at  Detroit,  and  the  Hudson  Ri\'er  at  New 
York,  lined  with  concrete? 

12.  Trace  a  shipment  of  concrete  from  Chicago  to 
the  Panama  Canal. 


i66  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XIX 

THE    HISTORY    AND    MANUFAC- 
TURE   OF    PAPER 

The  hornet  and  the  wasp  were  the  first  paper  mak- 
ers, and  they  used  the  same  raw  product  that  is  most 
used  today, — wood  pulp.  The  first  paper  manufactured 
by  hand  was  from  the  papyrus  plant  which  grew  in 
Abyssinia  on  the  Xile.  The  papyrus  rolls,  upon  which 
were  written  the  biographies  of  ancient  kings,  were  made 
from  the  fiber  of  this  plant.  Paper,  as  we  know  it  to- 
day, is  the  invention  of  the  Chinese,  and  they  made  it 
from  cotton.  The  Persians  and  Arabians  learned  the 
method  from  the  Chinese  and  carried  it  to  the  nations  of 
Europe,  the  first  mill  being  established  in  (Jermany  the 
latter  part  of  the  13th  century.  After  this  the  industry 
spread  over  the  continent,  Holland  and  Erancc  making 
most  progress.  The  Hollanders  were  the  first  to  use 
machinery  for  the  maceration  processes. 

The  first  paper  mill  in  this  country  was  built  in  i6yo, 
near  Philadelphia,  on  the  banks  of  a  stream  still  known 
as  "Paper  Mill  Run."'  b^or  several  centuries  all  paper 
was  made  by  hand  labor,  the  ])rocess  being  \ery  slow 
and  the  product  of  very  inferior  (|uality.  That  used  dur- 
ing" the  si.xtecnth  century  was  of  a  quality  far  inft'rior 
to  that  now  used  by  butchers  and  grocers  as  \\ra])])ing 
paper. 

Paper-Producing  Countries. — The  I'nited  States  is, 
by  far,  the  greatest  paper-i)ro(huing  country  in  the  world, 
the  annual  output  being  in  excess  of  1,500,000  tons.  The 
ne.xt  largest  producer  is  I'.ngland,  followed  in  succession 
b\-   France.  ("lernianw  Austria  and    ltal\-. 


OF    THE    United    States 


167 


As  paper  has  been  the  medium  by  which  learning 
and  culture  have  been  transmitted,  so  has  the  manu- 
facture of  paper  been  borne  on  the  wings  of  commerce 
and  so  have  the  highest  art  and  skill  entered  into  its 
manufacture.  From  the  first  mill  in  Pennsylvania  the 
industry  has  continued  to  grow,  during  the  three  cen- 
turies of  its  existence,  until  it  has  attained  the  high  state 
of  perfection  it  now  holds. 

The  printing  and  ])ul)lishing"  business,  from  the  be- 


Coiirlesy  Rock  Island  Lines 
"THE    FOREST    PRIMEN'AL" 


g-inning  of  the  manufacture  of  raw  materials  until  the 
finished  ])roduct  is  placed  upon  the  market,  is  one  of  our 
greatest  industries.  It  has  made  more  rapid  strides  for- 
ward during  the  past  decade  than  perhaps  any  other. 

Supply  of  Paper. — llie  most  im])ortant  feature  of  the 
business  is  the  supply  of  paper  and  the  demand  has  be- 
come so  great  that  manufacturers  are  becoming  very 
much  interested  in   regard  to  the  source  of  the  future 


i68  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

supply.  The  high-grade  papers  are  made  from  rags, 
which  are  collected  from  the  garment  factories  and  done 
up  in  bales,  or  they  are  collected  by  rag  pickers  who 
drive  down  the  alleys  and  come  to  the  back  doors  to 
barter  for  whatever  they  may  be  able  to  find.  For  this 
class  of  material  there  is  very  little  need  for  alarm,  as 
the  supply  becomes  greater  every  year  and  the  j^rice 
does  not  necessarily  advance.  The  cheaper  grades,  how- 
ever, such  as  are  used  for  books  and  newspapers,  are 
made  from  wood  pulp,  and  here  is  the  cause  for  alarm. 

Wood  Pulp. — The  great  bulk  of  ground  wood  pulp 
is  made  from  spruce  timber,  of  which  it  is  estimated 
there  are  seventy-five  million  cords  in  the  United  States, 
and  many  times  as  much  in  Canada.  The  average  price 
of  spruce  timber  in  Canada  is  six  dollars  per  cord,  with  a 
charge  of  about  three  dollars  per  cord  for  freight,  while 
the  cost  in  this  country  is  about  nine  dollars  per  cord, 
therefore  the  Canadian  timber  costs  the  manufacturer 
about  as  much  as  the  home-grown  ])roduct.  There  are 
over  two  hundred  and  fifty  factories  in  the  United  .States 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  wood  pulp.  They  an- 
nually use  3,400,000  cords  of  wood,  w^hich  costs,  approx- 
imately, thirty  million  dollars.  Estimating  that  five 
cords  is  the  product  of  an  acre  of  ground,  670,000  acres 
are  cleared  of  their  timber  every  year  for  paper-making 
alone.  Here  the  same  difficult}'  arises  as  was  dis- 
cussed in  our  study  of  the  lumber  industry,  the  demand 
is  so  much  greater  than  the  supply,  that  the  supply  will 
ultimately  be  exhausted  unless  something  efi'Vctive  is 
done  to  conserve  the  standing  limber.  This  has  be- 
come doubly  necessary  on  account  of  the  action  of  the 
provinces  of  Quebec  and  Ontario,  in  prohibiting  the  ex- 
portation of  unmanufactured  wood  and  i)ul]>  from  their 
territory,  and  P>ritish  Columbia  will  doubtless  follow 
their  lead  in  a  very  short  time.  .Xewfoundland  has  also 
passed  law^s  of  a  similar  nature  and  it  is  possible  that  the 
entire  Dominion  of  C"anada  mav  do  the  same.     This  will 


Ol 


TiiK    United    States 


169 


particularly  affect  the  ncwspa])crs  and  ]nil)lishers  of 
cheap  literature,  tor  the}-  cannot  \ery  well  raise  the  price, 
as  the  tendency  is  down  instead  of  up.  The  rise  in  price 
of  raw  materials  in  other  lines  has  often  been  an  excuse 
for  douI)lini.^-,  and  e\en  trebling",  the  price  of  the  finished 
article,  but  ii  will  be  difficult  for  the  publisher  to  do  this, 
as  an  advance  in  price  generally  reduces  the  circulation. 

Paper  Making. — The  princi[)les  uf  paper  making  are 
very  little  understood,  especially  outside  of  the  Northern 
timber  regions.     In  ^Visconsin,  the  Michigan  Peninsula, 


Courtesy  Pa[^cr  Trade  Journal 
ROLL  CALENDER  MACHINE 


Northern  Minnesota,  along  the  Canadian  line  and  in  parts 
of  New  England,  the  pulp  mill  is  a  very  common  sight. 
While  about  two-thirds  of  the  wMJod  supply  is  spruce, 
others  may  be  used  successfully.  These  are  principally 
poplar,  hemlock,  pine  antl  tir.  Wood  pulp  cannot  be 
produced  successfully  wdth  steam  or  other  expensive 
power,  therefore  in  the  timl)er  regions  there  are  generally 
pulp  mills  wherever  there  is  water  power.  One  of  the 
greatest  on  the  continent  is  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  on  the 
Canadian  side,  where  a  great  water-power  canal  has  been 
constructed.     The  manufacturers  resort  to  an  ingenious 


170 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


trick  to  evade  the  duty  on  a  finished  product  l)y  arrang- 
ing the  rollers  so  that  frequent  holes  are  punched  in  the 
large  sheets,  and  they  come  across  as  raw  material.  Jn 
the  yards  of  many  mills  these  sheets  of  pulp  may  be  seen, 
stacked  like  boards  in  a  lumber  yard. 

A   piece   of   wood   consists   of   fiber   and   binding   ma- 
terial, and  to  manufacture  pulp  it  is  necessary  to  separate 


Courtesy   Paper   Trade  Journal 
PLATER— FOR    ITXISHLXG    HEA\V    COATED    PAPERS 

them,  as  the  fiber  is  to  be  used  and  the  latter  discarded. 
Three  processes  are  used,  but  the  great  bulk  of  the  pulp 
used  in  pa])er  making  is  produced  by  the  mechanical 
process.  The  highest  grade  papers  are  produced  by  an 
acid  process,  while  other  grades  are  made  by  the  use  of 
alkali. 

The  Sulphite  Process. — Pul])  for  the  high-grade  pa- 
pers, manufactured  by  the  sulphite  ])rocess,  where  acids 


OF    THE    United    States  171 

are  used  for  separating  the  materials,  costs  twice  as  much 
as  that  produced  l)y  mechanical  processes,  or  about 
thirty  dollars  per  ton.  This  is  used  principally  in  the 
manufacture  of  books  and  other  hiiih-i^rade  ])rintin!^-. 

I'y  the  mechanical  process,  the  bark  is  first  removed 
from  the  sticks  of  wood  and  they  are  then  ground  into 
splinters,  by  being  ])ressed  bv  hydraulic  force  against  a 
gigantic  grindstone.  W^ater  constantly  plays  upon  this 
stone,  to  prevent  the  \\(iod  from  becoming  overheated  and 
also  to  carry  oiT  the  ground  particles  to  the  drying  room, 
where  it  is  drained  to  a  paste-like  consistency,  rolled  be- 
tween hot  rollers,  which  dry  it  thoroughly  and  it  is  then 
ready  for  shipment  to  the  paper  mill.  In  making  svdphite 
pulp  the  wood  is  "rossed," — or  the  bark  is  removed, — 
then  cut  into  very  fine  chips  and  finall}'  placed  in  a  ma- 
chine called  a  "digester,"  where  the  mass  is  cooked  for 
from  eight  to  twehe  hours  in  sul])hurous  acid,  under 
great  ])ressure.  It  is  then  taken  out  and  the  refuse  re- 
moved. The  chips  must  be  very  short,  otherwise  the 
digesting  agent  will  not  follow  the  fiber.  Practically  the 
same  process  is  followed  when  caustic  soda  is  used.  The 
drying  process  is  the  same  as  that  used  when  the  pulp 
is  obtained  by  mechanical  method. 

Making  High-Grade  Papers. — The  very  highest 
grade  papers,  the  linens  and  bonds,  used  for  fine  station- 
ery and  books,  are  made  from  the  trimmings  obtained 
from  shirt  and  garment  factories.  C)ther  grades  are  made 
from  various  kinds  of  cotton  and  linen  rags.  When  the 
bales  are  opened  at  the  mills,  and  most  of  these  are  lo- 
cated in  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire  and  New  York, 
they  are  placed  in  the  "thresher,"  and  the  dust  is  car- 
ried off  by  suction  tubes.  From  the  thresher  they  are 
taken  to  the  sorting  room,  where  all  foreign  material, 
such  as  buttons,  buckles,  hooks  and  eyes,  etc.,  are  re- 
moved by  women  known  as  sorters,  and  from  this  room 
they  go  under  a  roll,  having  blades  on  its  surface,  \vhich 
cuts  them  into  small  pieces. 


1-2 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


The  next  machine  is  called  a  duster,  which  gives 
the  rags  such  a  chastening  with  its  spiked  teeth  that  it 
loosens  the  last  vestige  of  dirt  and  lint,  it  all  being  re- 
moved finally  by  passing  into  a  sieve-like  concern  w^here 
alternate  suction  and  blowing  removes  all  dust. 

The  rags  next  pass  into  the  cooker,  and  are  boiled 
and  tuml)led  and  tossed  again  and  atiain.     This  mass  is 


Courtesy  Paper  Trade  Journal 
SHEKT   CAr.F.XnRR   MACHIXK 


then  passed  to  a  w^ashing  machine,  where  it  is  cut  and 
strained,  luni  and  washed,  until  pure  white,  and  the  water 
that  runs  through  it  is  clear  and  sparkling. 

Next  the  ])ulp  goes  to  the  drainer  and  then  to  the 
beater,  which  manipulates  and  mixes  it  with  bluing, 
which  bleaches  it  whiter  still.  Next  comes  the  sizing, 
the  changing  of  what  is  now  blotting  paper  into  those 


OF    THE    United    States  173 

grades  adapted  for  printing-  and  writing  purposes.  This 
operation  is  followed,  in  quick  succession,  by  a  number 
of  others,  which  transform  it  into  finished  paper. 

The  principal  machine  used  during  the  processes  is 
called  the  Fourdrinier  machine,  through  which  the  pulp 
passes  to  an  endless  belt  of  fine  wire  cloth.  Straps  of 
rubber  determine  the  width  of  the  paper  and  as  this 
passes  along,  all  the  water  drains  out.  The  paper  then 
passes  over  a  unicjue  machine  which  produces  the  water- 
mark or  other  characteristics  of  any  peculiar  nature. 
Passing  through  felt  rolls,  which  remove  the  last  vestige 
of  water,  it  then  passes  between  the  calendering  rolls 
which  give  it  its  finished  appearance,  and  it  is  ready  for 
the  market,  after  being  cut  to  the  desired  size  and  boxed 
or  rolled. 

Any  vegetable  fiber  can  be  manufactured  into  paper 
oi  some  quality.  Straw,  hemp,  jute  and  sisal,  a  sort  of 
grass,  have  been  used  and  it  is  ho|)ed  that  a  successful 
process  may  be  discovered  for  utilizing  the  cotton  stalk. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  W  here  is  wood  pulp  manufactured'-'  Where  are 
most  of  the  ])aper  mills  in  this  country'"'  Why  are  the 
mills  located  there? 

2.  (  )btain  samples  of:  news,  book,  cover,  linen, 
ledger,  bond,  tissue,  wrapping  and  other  papers  and 
learn  from  what  material  each  was  made. 

3.  W^hat  is  ])archment?  Vellum?  How  is  card- 
board made?  From  what  material  is  paper-box  stock 
made?     For  what  is  rice  paper  used? 

4.  W^hy  is  paper  making  a  great  industry  at  Sault 
Ste.  Marie?  W^hat  peculiarity  in  manufacture  enables 
the  manufacturers  to  sell  their  raw  stock  to  mills  in  the 
United  States  free  of  duty? 


174  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

5.  What  is  a  linotype?  What  effect  did  its  inven- 
tion have  upon  the  printing-  industry? 

6.  Why  were  early  books  printed  by  hand  and 
illuminated? 

7.  Visit  a  newspaper  office  and  study  the  process  of 
printing. 

8.  Obtain  samples  of  as  many  kinds  of  paper  as 
possible  and  determine  from  what  each  was  made.  Esti- 
mate the  probable  cost  of  each,  per  pound. 


OF    THE    United    States  175 


CHAPTER    XX 

PRINTING  AND   ALLIED 
INDUSTRIES 

The  Printing  Press. — One  of  the  most  wonderful 
developments  of  modern  times  has  been  the  evolution 
of  the  printing"  press.  Within  the  memory  of  many 
I)rinters  now  in  active  duty  the  old  Washington  hand- 
press  was  almost  in  universal  use,  and  now  it  has  almost 
entirely  gi\en  way  to  the  great  rotary  web  printing 
machines,  which,  a  cjuarter  of  a  century  ago,  it  was 
thought  would  never  be  used  outside  of  the  largest  cities. 
This  remarkable  mechanical  achievement  has  been 
forced  upon  the  publishers,  that  they  may  keep  pace  with 
a  never-satisfied  news-reading  public. 

Types  of  Presses. — The  Washington  hand-press  had 
answered  for  many,  many  years,  and,  during  the  time  of 
Franklin's  career,  and  later,  it  answered  every  purpose. 
Compare  it  today  with  the  great  Hoe  sextuple  machine 
which  will  print  in  colors  on  paper  in  rolls,  paste,  fold 
and  stack  48,000  newspapers  in  an  hour.  Large  news- 
papers also  use  the  great  octuple  rotaries,  the  greatest 
triumph  of  the  printing  age,  which  will  print  as  many 
as  194,000  papers  in  one  color,  per  hour.  Such  a 
machine  requires  an  80-horse-power  electric  motor  to 
start  it  in  motion,  and  in  ten  hours  will  run  more  than 
a  thousand  miles  of  white  ]~)a]~)er  through  its  flying 
machinery. 

Color  Printing. — Even  more  remarkable  is  the  devel- 
opment of  the  perfecting  press,  for  the  very  finest  work 
in  type  and  cuts.  WHiile  these  machines  work  as  rapidly 
as  if  they  were  printing  newspapers,  their  work  is  of  the 


176  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

highest  quality.  A  machine  is  now  able  to  print,  in  the 
colors  of  nature,  as  the  evolution  of  the  processes  oi 
illustration  has  kept  pace  with  other  improvements.  In 
the  days  of  the  Washington  press  all  illustrations  were 
carved  by  hand  from  blocks  of  wood  or  steel,  or  litho- 
graphed from  stone.  Aside  from  being  expensive  proc- 
esses, they  were  altogether  too  slow,  as  it  required  many 
hours — sometimes  days — to  produce  a  single  printing- 
plate.  This  would  not  at  all  be  in  harmony  with  our 
modern  idea,  where  we  expect  to  see  an  important  event 
pictured  in  the  daily  paper  a  few  hours  after  it  transpires. 

Photo-engraving  was  introduced  first  in  1875  and  to- 
day is  the  most  perfect  method  for  reproducing  pictures 
of  any  kind.  The  object,  or  picture,  is  photographed 
through  a  glass  screen  of  extreme  fineness  upon  a  nega- 
tive, and  the  film  is  then  removed  and  placed  upon  a 
sensitized  plate  of  highly  polished  copper.  This  plate 
is  then  passed  through  a  chemical  process  whereby  the 
shadows  of  the  picture  are  burned  in  upon  the  plate, 
which  is  then  mounted  ready  for  printing.  Fine-screened 
cuts,  with  perfect  press  work,  give  results  fully  equal  to 
photographs.  The  zinc-etching  process  is  virtually  the 
same.  Pen  and  ink  or  line  drawings,  in  perfectly  black 
ink,  are  required  and  there  is  no  screen.  This  is  the 
simplest  method  of  making  printing  plates,  l)ut  photo- 
graphs, or  wash  drawings,  or  paintings  cannot  l)c  re])ro- 
duced  in  this  way.  Color  printing  is  done  from  half- 
tone plates. 

Stereotyping  has  been  in  use  since  1861  and  tliere 
has  been  no  change  in  tlie  process.  It  is  a  method  tor 
duplicating  ty])c  form>,  by  taking  a  papier-mache  im- 
pression, placing  the  same  in  a  casting  box,  after  which 
melted  stereotype  metal  is  poured  in  and  the  plate  is 
then  trimmed  and  used  as  required,  thus  saving  tlu-  wear 
upon  type  and  cuts.  Where  a  great  man}'  im])ressions 
are    re(|uired,    or    for    the    duplication    of    fine    half-tone 


OF    THE    United    States 


177 


plates,  electrotyping-  is  used.  A  wax  mold  is  made  from 
the  cut  or  type  and  suspended  in  a  bath  which  holds 
copper  in  solution.  I'.y  an  electric  current  the  copper  is 
depositetl  u])on  the  wax  and  when  this  becomes  of  the 
proper  thickness  it  is  backed  with  base  metal  and  is 
ready  for  printing. 


THE    KIND    BEN    FRANKLIN    USED 


Lithographing  is  still  largely  used  for  certain  classes 
of  work,  ]3rincipally  show  bills  and  posters  and  fine  sta- 
tionery. The  design  is  traced  upon  a  rare  stone,  obtained 
|jrincipally  from  Austria,  the  printing  ink  adhering  only 
to  the  traced  lines.  Steel  engraving  and  copper  plate 
work  is  used  where  a  raised  effect  is  desired,  in  the  repro- 
duction of  fine  lettering  or  script,  these  being  the  most 
expensive  of  the  engraving  and  printing  processes. 


178 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


Type-setting  Machines. — In  the  old  days  all  type 
was  set,  laboriously,  by  hand  in  a  printer's  "stick."  Now 
even  the  smallest  villages  often  possess  modern  type- 
setting machines  of  some  kind.  Chief  among  these  is 
the  Mergenthaler  linotype.  As  the  name  implies,  the 
machine  does  not  set  movable  type,  but  casts  a  line-o'- 
type,  through  the  use  of  about  1500  brass  molds  or 
matrices.  It  is  operated  by  one  person,  the  keyboard 
resembling  that  of  a  typewriter.     Touching  a  letter  upon 


Courtesy  M crgcnthalcr  Linotyl^c  Co. 
TIIK    LIXOTVIM-: 


the  keyboard  releases  a  corresponding  matrix  and  when 
a  line  has  been  set,  molten  metal  is  released  which  casts, 
automatically,  the  solid  printing  line  of  type.  The 
amount  of  copy  that  may  be  set  b}'  an  expert  linotyi)e 
operatr)r  in  an  lionr  is  almost  un1)elievable,  14,000  ems 
hax'ing  been  set  dnring  tliis  time,  altlnuigh  the  average 
speed  is  perhaps  about  4,000  ems. 

The  Lanston  Monotype  produces  single  types,  cast 


OF    THE    United    States  179 

in  the  order  of  their  use.  Two  machines  are  used,  how- 
ever, one  bein,<^'  a  perforating  device,  operated  by  a  key- 
board, and  the  other  a  casting  machine.  There  are  sev- 
eral other  machines  which  set  and  distribute  movable 
type,  all  of  which  are  more  or  less  in  use  for  certain 
kinds  of  work,  l)ut  the  machine  of  the  newspaper  world 
is  the  linotype.  After  using,  the  type  is  melted  and  cast 
over  again. 

The  Publishing  Business. — Publishers  are  some- 
times mere  followers  of  tlie  local  or  national  trend  of 
thought,  but  the  aim  of  the  true  publisher  should  be  to 
lead  the  minds  of  the  people  into  higher  channels  and 
develop  a  taste  for  what  is  pure  in  literature.  The  great- 
est readers  and  book-buyers  in  the  world  are  the  people 
of  the  United  States.  Where  there  is  illiteracy  there  can 
be  no  demand  for  reading  matter.  The  chief  book  mar- 
kets of  this  country  are  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston 
and  Chicago.  As  the  centers  of  population  move  west- 
ward, new  book  markets  are  created,  and  it  is  only  a 
matter  of  time  until  Kansas  City,  .St.  Louis  and  other 
western  cities  will  rank  with  those  of  the  East.  The 
public  spends  annually  about  forty  million  dollars  for 
fiction  and  general  reading  matter,  and  a  like  amount  for 
school  and  library  books.  Modern  fiction  is,  in  the  main, 
short-lived.  At  the  public  libraries,  one-third  of  the  new 
books  published  any  particular  year  are  not  called  for 
u];i)n  the  same  date  the  following  year.  One-third  of  all 
new  books  live  only  one  or  two  years,  while  the  great 
majority  of  them  become  dead  stock  in  six  or  seven  years. 

The  discovery  of  the  art  of  making  paper  from  wood 
pulp  has  contributed  much  toward  cheapening  news- 
papers, but  lias  done  a  great  damage  to  the  quality  of 
books,  as  the  fabric  of  the  average  book  today  is  not  as 
good  as  it  was  fifty  years  ago,  when  the  paper  was  made 
of  cotton  and  linen  rags.  Newspaper  may  be  bought  for 
al)out  three  cents  per  pound,  but  a  good  grade  of  book 
paper  costs  from  twelve  to  fifteen  cents  per  pound,  while 


i8o  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

the  best  hand-made  papers  cost  as  much  as  sixty  cents 
per  pound. 

The  cheap  magazine  has  seized  upon  the  attention 
of  the  public.  In  1890  most  magazines  sold  at  twenty- 
five  cents  per  copy.  The  reduction  of  "Munsey's,"  the 
first  to  drop  to  ten  cents,  increased  the  circulation  of 
that  periodical  to  such  an  extent  that  the  presses  had  to 
be  stopped  from  printing  the  first  edition  to  permit  the 
printing  of  the  next  month's  issue.  Others  quickly  fol- 
lowed this  drop  in  price,  which  was  raised  to  fifteen  cents 
ten  years  later,  on  account  of  a  general  advance  in  the 
cost  of  labor  and  material.  The  circulation  of  some  of 
the  leading  magazines  has  far  exceeded  the  two  and  one- 
half  million  mark  per  month.  Today  we  have  magazines 
representing  every  trade  and  industry,  and  they  form  a 
most  important  adjunct  to  the  press  of  the  country. 

The  newspaper  press  of  today  is  a  most  colossal  insti- 
tution, as  its  ramifications  are  limitless.  Every  class  of 
people  is  interested  in  it,  as  the  present  tone  is  more 
educational  and  less  oracular  than  formerly.  No  outside 
force  can  now  hold  a  great  newspaper  in  its  power  and 
the  business  is  progressing  so  rapidly  that  no  one  can 
foresee  its  possibilities.  In  New  York  City  over  two  and 
one-half  million  newspapers  are  sold  every  day,  but,  great 
as  is  this  circulation,  the  receipts  from  sales  pay  only 
about  one-third  of  the  expenses  of  a  great  newspaper. 
The  first  thought  of  the  publisher  is  to  keep  the  cost  of 
the  white  paper  used  for  each  copy  down  to  what  he  gets 
for  the  printed  paper,  the  profits  are  all  to  come  from 
advertising.  Some  of  the  great  newspapers  receive  as 
high  as  an  average  of  fifty  thousand  dollars  per  week 
for  advertising  space.  The  Sunday  issue  is  the  great 
money-maker,  as  there  are  sometimes  as  many  as  ninety 
pages,  and  a  correspondingly  large  part  is  advertising, 
worth  about  seventy-five  dollars  per  column.  The  great- 
est item  of  expense  is,  of  course,  the  gathering  together 
of  the  news.     An  important  occurrence  is  reported  with 


OF    THE    United    States 


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i82  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

the  same  disregard  for  space,  whether  it  happened  in  the 
antipodes  or  around  the  corner.  All  of  the  news  from 
foreign  countries,  as  well  as  the  larger  portion  of  that 
within  our  own  borders,  is  reported  by  telegraph.  The 
cost  of  transmission  is  lessened,  somewhat,  by  the  or- 
ganization of  syndicates,  but  rivalry  is  so  intense  that  the 
greatest  papers  obtain  exclusive  reports  at  whatever  cost 
is  necessary  to  get  the  news. 

The  newspapers  in  smaller  cities  and  towns  obtain 
syndicate  matter,  and  that  already  used  by  the  original 
purchasers,  through  associations  which  distribute  patent 
insides,  stereotype  plates,  and  electrotypes,  which  is  an 
enormous  industry  in  itself.  Almost  all  of  the  weekly 
newspapers  are  served  this  way.  The  advent  of  the 
telephone,  rural  free  delivery  of  mail  and  other  forces, 
has  tended  to  increase  the  circulation  of  daily  newspapers. 

The  press  of  the  twentieth  century  is  one  of  the 
greatest  powers  of  the  earth,  whether  that  power  be  used 
for  good  or  evil.  It  is  also  certain  that  the  taste  of  the 
people  of  any  country  is  reflected  in  the  literature  they 
prefer. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  How  many  people  are  engaged  in  the  printing, 
and  allied  trades,  in  your  city? 

2.  Obtain  specimens  of  both  metal  and  wi  k  k1  type. 
Why  is  it  notched  on  the  side? 

3.  Why  is  most  printing  not  done  from  type,  direct? 

4.  Visit  a  printing  office  and  obtain  samples  of 
linotype  work.  If  possible  secure  an  etching,  wood  cut, 
electrotype,  stereotype,  half-tone,  lithograph,  steel  die 
and  copper  plate,  and  samples  of  printing  fn^n  each. 

5.  Visit  a  newspaper  office  and  follow  the  processes 
of  gathering  news,  preparing  it  for  the  linotype,  assem- 


OF    THE    United    States  183 

hling  the  forms,  preparing  for  the  press  and  distribution 
of  the  papers. 

6.  Where  do  local  newspapers  secure  their  white 
paper?     What  railroad  lines  transport  it? 

7.  Name  three  factors  which  have  been  coml)ined  to 
give  us  the  cheap  newspaper,  book,  and  magazine. 

8.  If  there  is  a  paper  mill  or  Ijindery  in  your  city, 
obtain  as  much  information  as  possible  regarding  these 
phases  of  industry. 

9.  ^^'hat  is  a  job  press?  A  cylinder  press?  Which 
is  generally  used  for  printing  magazines  and  books? 


1 84 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XXI 

DAIRY   PRODUCTS 

Tt  has  not  been  long'  since  the  products  of  the  dairy 
were  principally  confined  to  those  made  by  the  women 
on  the  farms.     In  those  davs  the  utensils  w^ere  as  crude 


I 


Courtesy  A.  F.  S.  F.  Ry.  Co. 
A    WESTERN    HERD 

as  the  methods  used,  yet  prices  were  only  al)oul  liall 
what  ihey  are  todaw  I  low  many  of  us  ha\e  e\er 
thought  what  an  immense  su])])!}-  ol  these  ])]oducts  is 
necessary  to  feed  nearly  a  hundred  million  people  in  this 
country.  Nineteen  pounds  ])er  capita,  average,  are  con- 
sumed yearly  by  every  person  in  the  United  States. 

Before  the  present  system  was  inaugurated  the  sup- 
])ly  for  the  market  was  very  irregular,  as  the  cows  were 
I)rincipally  "natives."  with  occasionally  a  few  good  dairy 


OF    THE    United    States  185 

cattle.  TIk'  milk  was  set  in  shallow  earthen  vessels,  for 
the  cream  to  rise,  and  a  simple  dash-churn  was  used  in 
the  process  of  making  Ijutter.  The  first  improvement 
was  the  use  of  spring-  houses,  wdiere  the  vessels  holding 
the  milk  were  set  in  cool  flowing  w^ater,  and  it  was  very 
common  to  churn  all  the  milk.  This  practice  is  still  fol- 
lowed in  Some  of  the  Southern  states.  The  butter  was 
usually  i)acked  in  large  firkins  and  sent  to  market  once 
or  twice  a  year,  as  we  did  not  have  railroads  then  as  we 
have  toda}',  to  make  the  markets  accessible.  Under 
those  conditions  the  quality  of  the  product  was  not  at  all 
satisfactory. 

Milk  Stations. — About  fifty  years  ago  the  cooperative 
])lan  was  inaugurated,  which  was  the  beginning  of  our 
])resent  factory  system.  .\  number  of  farmers  would 
bring  their  milk  to  a  central  station  e\'ery  day,  wdiere 
the  butter  and  cheese  was  made  by  a  skilled  operator. 
At  the  ]:)resent  time  there  are  over  twelve  thousand  of 
these  stations.  This  system  has  so  far  taken  the  place 
of  home  dairying  that  in  many  states  the  cheese-vat  and 
farm  churn  are  as  rare  as  the  spinning  wheel  and  hand 
loom. 

Under  this  arrangement  the  farmers  are  joint  own- 
ers, and  all  \vho  contribute  milk  are  entitled  to  their  pro 
rata  share  of  the  returns.  In  the  early  da3'S  of  the  in- 
dustry the  milk  was  placed  in  long  shallow  pans  for  the 
cream  to  rise.  The  first  im])ro\ement  was  the  installation 
of  deep  settling  vats  below  the  floor  level,  through  which 
cool  water  flowed  from  springs  near  by,  and  the  milk  was 
set  in  them,  in  cans,  for  the  cream  to  form.  The  cans 
were  about  the  size  of  the  ordinary  milk  can  of  today. 

Machinery  Used  in  Dairying. — The  greatest  step  in 
advance  was  the  introduction  tif  mechanical  cream  sepa- 
rators to  take  ])lace  of  the  gravity  system.  These 
machines  separate  the  milk  from  the  cream  by  centrif- 
ugal force,  and  this  ])rt)cess  can  l)e  accom])Iishe(l  imme- 


i86 


Industrial-Com  mercial    Geography 


diately  after  milking.  The  cream  can  be  churned  at  once, 
but  it  is  usually  cooled,  and  then  warmed  slowly,  to  ripen 
it  for  churning.  The  milk  can  be  used  at  once  on  the 
farm,  for  feeding  to  the  young  animals.  The  mechanical 
process  is  very  efficient  and  very  little  butter-fat  is  lost. 
Separators  are  made  in  various  sizes  for  farm  use  and 
they  may  be  operated  by  an}-  kind  of  power,  thus  entirely 
removing  the  drudgery  of  Initter-making  from  the  farm. 
In  some  localities  the  farmers  haul  the  milk  to  the  cream- 


^^■^Hi^M 

^^^H'-v  "^ 

^^Vr 

IHI 

^Kyl^^H  '^^^1 

{ 

«i  i 

/ 

H 

Courtesy  Mo.   State    University 
EMPRESS    JOSEPHINE,    WORLD'S    CHAMPION    HOLSTEIN-FRIESIAN 


ery,  and  it  is  separated  there,  and  the  skimmed  milk  may 
be  taken  back  to  the  farms.  In  other  places  there  are 
skimming  stations  at  convenient  points,  equipped  with 
power  separators,  to  which  the  milk  is  hauled  from  the 
near-by  farms,  and  from  these  stations  the  cream  is 
shipped  to  the  creamery.  There  it  is  sterilized  and  a 
"starter"  added,  after  which  it  is  ripened  and  churned, 
the  butter  worked,  salted  and  packed  for  the  market. 

The  centrifugal  cream  separator  is  a  marvel  to  those 
who  have  not  seen  it.    The  warm  milk  is  placed  in  a  large 


OF    THE    United    States  187 

bowl  abo\e  the  machine,  from  which  it  flows  into  a  strong 
steel  bowl  in  an  iron  frame.  This  bowl  is  then  made  to 
revolve  at  a  rate  of  from  fifteen  hundred  to  twenty-five 
thousand  times  per  minute,  and,  from  two  projecting 
tubes,  the  cream  and  skimmed  milk  flow  in  continuous 
streams.  Cream  of  any  desired  thickness  or  quality  may 
be  obtained  by  regulating  the  machine.  Very  few  farm- 
ers who  keep  cows  feel  that  they  can  afiford  to  be  with- 
out one  of  these  useful  machines,  as  they  have  been  per- 
fected and  popularized  to  the  stage  where  they  are  com- 
paratively inexpensive. 


Courtesy  International  Harvester  Co. 
SILO    AND    DAIRY    BARN 

The  first  creameries  paid  for  milk  or  cream  by  the 
gallon,  but  this  has  been  changed  by  the  introduction 
of  the  Babcock  test,  through  the  use  of  which  it  is  paid 
for  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of  butter-fat  it  contains. 
These  machines  are  a  simple  and  accurate  substitute  for 
a  chemical  test,  and  the  percentage  of  fat  may  be  very 
quickly  determined.  In  advancing  the  economics  of 
dairying  this  invention  is  second  only  to  the  cream  sepa- 
rator. 


1 88  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

Butter  Making. — There  is  still  much  more  butter 
made  on  the  farms  than  in  the  creameries,  although  the 
spring  house  is  no  longer  found  and  the  churn  is  not  now 
an  adjunct  of  the  dark  corner  beside  the  open  fireplace. 
The  markets  are  controlled  by  creamery  butter,  that  from 
the  farm  making  little  impression  upon  the  trade,  as 
most  of  it  is  consumed  there.    /I  he  average   quality  of 


Courtesy  1  ntcrnatiinuil  Harvester  Co. 
CKKAM     SI-:rARAI  1)1^ 


butter  has  im])r()ved  very  materially  since  the  advent  d 
modern  methods.  While  a  large  amount  of  poor  butter 
is  still  made,  collected  at  country  stores  and  renovated 
at  creameries,  many  states  have  passed  laws  re(|uiring 
the  ])ro(luct  to  l)c  idrnlilKMl  for  the  benefit  of  the  con- 
sumer. The  Tnited  States  (  io\eruniciU  also  has  very 
stringent  laws  along  this  line. 


OF    THE    United    States  189 

The  Manufacture  of  Cheese  lias  also  been  trans- 
ferred from  the  reahn  ui  domestic  arts  to  that  of  manu- 
facture, r^arm-made  cheese  is  a  very  rare  article  and  is 
seldom  foniul  on  the  market.  T'^iftv  vears  aiio  one  hun- 
dred  million  ])ounds  of  cheese  were  made  annually,  all 
of  it  in  farm  dairies.  Now  over  three  hundred  million 
])ounds  are  made  annually,  all  of  it  in  factories.  The  first 
factory  was  established  at  Oneida.  Xew  "S^ork,  in  185 1, 
and  there  are  now  nearly  four  thousand,  Xew  York  and 
Wisconsin  maintainin;;-  three-fourths  of  the  number. 

The  progressive  farmer  keeps  only  the  finest  cattle 
in  his  herd,  Jerseys,  Holsteins,  Guernseys,  or  other  choice 
varieties,  for  they  are  the  easiest  to  feed  and  the  milk  is 
of  a  nmch  higher  (|uality.  Much  more  care  must  be 
taken  with  the  milk  intended  for  cheese  than  with  that 
used  for  butter.  It  is  usually  delivered  at  the  factory 
very  early  in  the  morning,  where  it  is  carefully  inspected 
before  being  accepted,  after  which  it  is  ])assed  to  the 
receiving  vats,  each  holding  about  five  thousand  ])ounds 
ot  milk.  The  temperature  is  raised  by  heating-  a  jacket 
of  water,  surrounding  the  vat,  by  steam.  The  next  step 
is  to  test  it  for  the  suitable  condition  for  adding  the 
rennet.  This  being  determined,  enough  rennet  is  added 
to  coagulate  the  casein  in  about  thirty  mimites.  Next, 
after  cutting  the  mass  into  small  cubes,  the  "curd  agi- 
tator" is  attached  to  the  vat  and  the  contents  stirred  bv 
steam  for  several  hours,  until  the  ciu'd  will  string  one- 
fourth  of  an  inch,  when  the  whey  is  drawn  oiT.  The 
residue  is  then  manipulated  to  remove  the  sur])lus 
moisture,  salted,  ground,  placed  in  hoops,  j^ressed  and 
stored  in  the  curing-room,  where  it  remains  for  several 
weeks  to  ripen,  after  which  it  is  branded  and  placed  upon 
the  market.  Nine-tenths  of  all  the  cheese  made  in  this 
country  is  of  the  standard  familiar  variety,  made  to  imi- 
tate the  I'^nglish  Cheddar ;  however,  new  varieties  are 
increasing".     \Ve  do  not  use  cheese  as  they  do  in  Kurope, 


190 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


our  per  capita  amount  not  exceeding"  three  and  one-half 
pounds. 

The  Condensed  Milk  Industry  was  started  in  this 
country  about  the  same  time  as  the  factory  system  for 
making  butter  and  clieese.  Tlie  semi-liquid  form  is  in 
general  use,  and  the  industry  lias  become  very  extensive. 
Condensed  milk  is  prepared  in  fifteen  different  states, 
although  New  York  and  Illinois  contain  over  half  of  the 
factories. 


Courtesy  International  Harvester  Co. 
A    FARM    DAIRY 


The  principle  of  condensing  milk  is  to  reduce  it,  in 
a  vacuum,  at  a  temperature  of  about  one  hundred  and 
thirty  degrees,  Fahrenheit.  The  very  essential  point  is 
that  the  milk  should  be  from  healthy  cows,  handled  in 
a  cleanly  manner  and  free  from  taints  of  any  kind.  One 
of  the  greatest  of  these  factories  has  invented  a  process 
for  combining  the  condensed  milk  with  the  extracts  of 
malted  barley  and  wheat,  and  reducing  the  product  to  a 
powder  form,  in  which  it  keeps  indefinitely  in  any 
climate.     This  i)roduct  has  a  world-wide  sale. 


OF    THE    United    States  191 

The  Milking  Machine.- — It  is  not  a  very  delightful 
task  to  milk  a  number  of  cows,  especially  during  the 
winter  time,  but  this  obstacle  is  being  removed  by  the 
invention  of  the  milking  machine,  a  devise  which  accom- 
modates two  cows  at  a  time,  and  is  operated  by  the 
vacuum  |)rocess,  a  gasoline  engine  furnisliing  the  motive 
power. 

The  discriminating  public  has  caused  the  pr(jducts 
of  the  dairy  to  become  an  illustrated  story  of  the  whole 
process  or  manufacture,  a  veritable  picture  gallery  of 
men,  cows  and  sum  )undings,  a  condensed  narrative  of 
praise  or  blame  for  all  wlm  ha\'e  been  interested  in  their 
making.  Most  essential  of  all,  perhaps,  is  that  the  cows 
themselves  shall  be  high-grade  animals,  whether  pedi- 
greed or  not. 

Efficiency  Dairying. — The  utmost  measure  of  the 
dairyman's  success  is  the  largest  (juantity  of  products, 
produced  at  least  cost,  and  sold  at  the  highest  price. 
This  means,  first,  that  the  cows  must  be  well  fed.  The 
farm  should  produce  all  that  is  needed,  in  order  to  reduce 
the  cost  to  a  minimum.  In  all  Northern  states  there  are 
at  least  two  crops  that  are  essential,  corn  and  clover. 
Of  these  corn  will  produce  a  greater  amount  of  feed  per 
acre  than  any  other  crop,  if  wisely  grown.  Since  the 
advent  of  the  silo  few  dairymen  attempt  to  get  along 
without  them,  for  by  their  use  green  feed  may  be  kept 
in  succulent  and  palatable  condition  for  a  year  or  more. 
Silage  is  a  safe  feed  and  is  prol)ably  the  cheapest  source 
of  starch,  sugar  and  similar  com])oun(ls  that  the  dairy- 
man possesses. 

With  the  silage,  the  economical  dairyman  will  feed 
clover  hay,  for  it  is  one  crop  that  affords  a  large  yield 
of  forage  and,  at  the  same  time,  leaves  the  ground  in 
better  shape  than  before  growling  it.  Experiments  have 
shown  that  in  the  roots  of  medium  red  clover,  yielding 
a  ton  and  a  half  of  dry  hay  to  the  acre,  there  was  as 


192  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

much   plant  food   as   in   perhaps   eight  or   more   tons   of 
ordinary  fertiHzer. 

Alfalfa  is  a  comparatively  new  feed  that  is  finding- 
rapid  favor  as  a  dairy  food,  as  it  is  claimed  that  cows 
fed  upon  it  will  produce  more  milk  than  from  any  other 
food.  The  leaves  are  very  rich  in  protein  and  the  cho])- 
ped  stems  are  nearly  as  palatable  as  wheat  bran.  Con- 
sequently, alfalfa  may  largely  take  the  place  of  the  grain 
ration,  and  as  three  or  more  crops  may  be  grown  from 
the  same  ground  in  one  season,  it  is  a  very  cheap  feed. 
Corn,  alone,  is  not  a  desirable  food  for  dairy  cattle,  and 
fodder,  hay,  straw,  sorghum  and  the  whole  list  of  forage 
crops  are  deficient  in  protein  when  compared  with  alfalfa. 

The  housing  of  dairy  cattle  has  undergone  as  radical 
a  change  as  has  any  other  phase  of  the  business.  We  no 
longer  find  the  cow^s  huddled  together  in  open,  dark  and 
unclean  barns.  Xow  we  ha\e  them  in  barns  with  hmg 
rows  of  stalls,  with  concrete  floors  and  perfect  drainage 
and  ventilation.  Cleanliness  begins  in  the  stable,  and 
should  continue  through  the  entire  history  of  the  milk. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  A\'hy  is  there  not  much  dairying  on  the  ])lains? 

2.  What  is  a  refrigerator  car?    A  refrigerator  ship? 

3.  A\'hat  qualities  are  necessary  in  good  dairy  cat- 
tle? How  is  dairy  stock  judged?  Obtain  a  chart  from 
the  nearest  agricultural  college  and  ])ecome  familiar  with 
the  value  of  the  points  considered. 

4.  Make  an  outline  map  showing  the  areas  best 
suited  for  the  ])ro(luction  of  dairy  i-attle.  What  is  the 
relative  location  of  these  secti(jns,  as  compared  witli  the 
areas  of  ])roduction  of  licef  cattle? 

5.  What  is  a  dual-purpose  cow?  Xanie  some 
varieties. 


OF    THE    United    States  193 

6.  In  what  places  did  the  fullowing  Ijreeds  of  dairy 
cattle  originate:  Jerseys,  Holstein-Friesians,  Gtiernseys, 
Ayrshires,  Dutch  lielted,  Shorthdrns,  lirown  Swiss? 
Locate  these  countries  upon  a  map  of  the  world. 

7.  Why  is  Xew  York  a  great  dairy  state?  \'er- 
uKint?  Illinois?  \\'isconsin?  Missouri?  Ohio?  In- 
diana? 

8.  Alissduri  Chief  Josephine  produced  21,698  pounds 
of  milk  in  eight  months.  Compute  the  approximate  value 
of  this  milk  and  the  hutter  it  would  make. 

9.  \Miy  has  Elgin,  Illinois,  become  a  great  market 
for  butter  and  cheese?  How  does  the  market  there 
regulate  the  market  in  all  tributary  territory? 

TO.  What  is  oleomargarine?  Butterine?  Cotto- 
lene?  What  laws  are  in  force,  relating  to  the  use  of 
these  products? 

II.  What  railroads  supply  Chicago  with  dairy 
products?  New  York?  Boston?  Kansas  City?  Cleve- 
land? Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul?"  New  Orleans?  Cin- 
cinnati ? 


194 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XXII 

A  TRIP  THROUGH    PACKING 

TOWN 

The  modern  packing  plant  is  one  of  our  national 
institutions.  It  represents  American  ingenuity,  energy 
and  resourcefulness.     In  the  brief  period  of  a  third  of  a 


Courtesy  Swift  &  Co. 
ENTRANCE— CHICAGO    STOCK    YARDS 

century  it  has  been  developed  to  its  present  efficiency. 
The  value  of  live  stock  in  the  United  States  exceeds  that 
of  the  fields,  forests  and  mines  combined;  consequently, 
meat  packing  represents  the  greatest  value  in  investment 
and  production  among  the  food  industries,  and  very 
properly  may  be  classed  as  a  manufacturing  industry. 

Consolidation  and  Its  Effects. — The  great  growth 
of  this  industry  can  be  attributed  to  the  rapid  settlement 
of  the  Western  country,  and  its  exploitation  by  the  great 


OF    THE    United    States 


195 


railway  systems.  The  development  of  the  processes  of 
preparing  meat  for  the  market  has  been  as  wonderful  as 
the  story  of  cotton  or  iron.  The  present  large  establish- 
ments are  the  direct  result  of  growth  and  expansion. 
Instead  of  a  small  butcher,  in  each  locality,  supplying  the 
local  market  through  limited  facilities,  we  now  have  great 
abattoirs,  handling  thousands  of  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs 
per  day.  Such  expansion  has  brought  about  conditions 
which  would  have  been  practically  impossible,  had  the 
industry  remained   in   its   original   state.     The  principal 


Courtesy  Swift  &■  Co. 
BUYERS     SELECTING    CATTLE 

results  secured  have  been  the  sanitary  care  of  the  prod- 
uct, and  utilization  of  every  portion  of  the  animal,  thus 
entirely  eliminating  waste.  Although  the  present  prices 
seem  high,  we  can  hardly  estimate  the  cost  of  meat  were 
it  prepared  now  under  the  old  conditions.  Present  prices 
are  the  result  of  conditions  which  may  be  changed,  if 
we  study  the  matter  from  the  proper  standpoint. 

Cost   of    Meats. — The   prosperity   of   the    American 
people  has  caused  them  to  become  fixed  in  their  habits 


196 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


of  extravagance  with  regard  to  their  choice  of  beef  cuts. 
A  live  animal  weighing  over  1,000  pounds  will  produce 
about  550  pounds  of  beef.  Of  these  550  pounds,  about 
144  pounds  can  be  sold  over  the  counter  as  tenderloin 
and  sirloin  steaks  and  rib  roasts.  Most  of  us  wish  these 
choice  cuts,  although  no  more  nutritious  than  the  re- 
mainder of  the  beef, — chuck,  brisket,  Hank,  or  round, 
which  equal  in  food  value  the  finest  roast,  but  they  re- 
quire more  care  to  prepare  and  more  time  to  cook. 


Courtesy  Siuift  &  Co. 
ANTE-MORTEM    INSPECTION 


If  i1k'  Anu'rican  housewife  would  give  a  little  more 
time  to  the  study  of  the  cooking  and  serving  of  the  many 
inviting  and  palatable  dishes  that  can  be  made  from  the 
cheaper  cuts,  she  would  at  once  affect  the  law  of  sup])ly 
and  demand  for  rib  roasts  and  ])orterli()Use,  and  the  retail 
price>  ( 't  the>e  aristocratic  cuts  would  fiirthwith  decline. 
I  he  I'.uropean  h(jusewife  has  learned  tins  economic  law, 
but  it   is  not   necessary  at   this  time  to  discuss  the  eco- 


OF    THI-:    United    States 


197 


nomic  side  of  this  topic,  further  than  to  state  that  the 
great  packers  have  shown,  by  the  care  practised  through 
every  process,  that  no  laws  could  enforce  greater  efforts 
toward  cleanliness.  Statistical  information  is  easily  avail- 
able. 

Meat  Packing  Centers. —  Deing  a  western  business, 
its  great  market  and  base  of  supplies  naturally  centers  in 
Chicago,  but  the  tendency  is  to  get  near  the  corn  belt,  as 


Courtesy  Swift  &■  Co. 
IXAl.    U.    S.    INSPECTION 


is  shown  l)y  the  development  of  the  business  in  Kansas 
City,  St.  Joseph,  Omaha.  St.  Paul,  .Sioux  City  and  In- 
dianapolis. A  trip  through  one  of  these  plants  affords 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  instructive  lessons  im- 
aginal)le.  Here  the  cattle,  sheep  and  hogs,  come  in  by 
the  train-loads,  from  all  parts  of  the  middle  West,  and 
they  are  soon  unloaded  into  the  feeding  pens  to  rest 
after  their  journey. 

Among  these  pens,  from  morning  until  the  close  of 
the  market,  buyers  on  horseback  are  carefully  examining 


198 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


the  stock  and  making  purchases.  Even  while  the  visitor 
is  admiring"  the  various  breeds,  among  them  Aberdeen- 
Angus,  Galloway,  Durham  and  Hereford  cattle,  Merino 
and  Leicestershire  sheep  and  Poland-China,  Jersey  Red 
and  Berkshire  hogs,  the  United  States  Government  In- 
spectors are  busy  at  work  looking  for  outward  evidence 
of  the  unfitness  of  animals  for  food.  It  is  within  reach 
of  any  one  living  near  the  packing  centers  to  see  how 
thoroughly  all  this  work  is  done. 


Courtesy  Swift  &•  Co. 


MUTTON    COOLER 


At  the  Beef  House. — Following  the  cattle  up  a  long- 
walk  to  the  top  of  the  "beef  house"  we  see  them  quickly 
dispatched  by  the  most  humane  and  hygienic  methods. 
Here  is  a  perfect  beehive  of  industry,  for  every  man  has 
some  special  task  to  perform.  Some  are  l)usy  removing 
llu-  hides,  others  arr  dressing  and  wasliing  the  iiuge 
beeves,  others  cutting  and  rt'nio\ing  certain  ])aiis,  as  the 
beeves  pass  each  workman  b}-  means  of  ;in  oxerhead 
trolley.  The  inspectors  are  ever  present  and  vigilant, 
and,  as  the  nuat  ])asses  them,  it  is  weighed  and  passed 
on  into  the  cooling  rooms,  the  entire  process  having 
taken  only  thirty-five  minutes  for  each  beef. 


OF    THE    United    States 


199 


In  this  great  room,  containing  row  after  row  of 
beeves,  perhaps  three  thousand  sides  at  a  time,  the  meat 
is  kept  at  a  temperature  of  thirty-eight  degrees  for  sev- 
eral days,  and  is  then  ready  for  the  refrigerator  car,  where 
it  is  ingeniously  loaded  without  ever  coming  in  contact 
with  the  outside  air.  Now  it  is  sent  in  special  trains 
speeding  to  all  parts  of  this  country,  as  well  as  to  every 
part  of  the  civilized  world.  Many  of  these  cars  go  di- 
rectly to  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  where  the  beef  is  loaded 


Courtesy  Szvijt  c7  to. 


beef  cooler 


into  refrigerator  ships,  to  be  delivered  a  week  or  so  later 
to  the  markets  of  Great  Britain,  Europe,  Asia,  Africa  or 
some  other  section  of  the  earth.  What  a  wonderful  les- 
son in  Geography  one  may  learn,  by  tracing  these  ship- 
ments from  the  ranch  to  the  retailer! 

How  Invention  Has  Helped. — The  business  never 
could  have  assumed  its  present  proportions  but  for  the  in- 
vention, first  of  the  stationary  refrigerator,  which  en- 
abled the  packers  to  keep  their  products  in  storage,  and 
of  the  refrigerator  car  in  1871,  in  which  the  meat  could 
be  shipped  from  the  plants  near  the  source  of  supply,  to 


200  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

the  consumer  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  allow- 
ing" the  manufacture  of  what  was  formerly  waste  into 
by-products  at  once,  rather  than  to  transport  the  live 
animals  long  distances.  The  process  of  preparing  mut- 
ton is  very  similar  to  that  of  beef,  except  that  they  are 
sent  practically  whole  to  the  coolers,  and  are  shipped  in 
that  form  instead  of  being  cut  up.  The  slaughter  and 
dressing  require  about  26  minutes  for  each  animal. 

Pork  Packing. — The  complete  dressing  of  a  hog  re- 
quires only  about  twenty  minutes.  1  lundreds  of  men  are 
employed  in  each  plant,  each  being  assigned  some  spe- 
cial duty,  including  killing,  scraping,  taking  out  the  leaf 
fat,  dividing,  trimming  and  scrubbing  with  hot  water. 
As  in  the  other  buildings,  the  process  begins  on  the  top 
floor,  and  down  story  after  story,  room  after  room,  go 
these  fat  porkers,  on  their  way  to  the  dry-room,  which 
may  have  a  capacity  of  from  tive  thousand  to  twenty 
thousand  animals.  For  four  hours  they  remain  here,  to 
allow  the  excess  moisture  to  lea\'e  the  meat  l)ef(jre  going 
to  the  refrigerator  room,  where  they  are  chilled  for  two 
days,  and  then  sent  to  the  chopping  rooms.  There  the 
workmen  dexterously  cut  ofif  the  hams,  shoulders,  sides, 
and  special  cuts  required  by  various  markets.  The  meats 
intended  to  be  smoked  are  first  cured  in  a  sweet  pickle 
of  sugar,  salt  and  water,  or  in  dry  salt,  the  weight  of  the 
meat  determining  the  period,  which  will  a\erage  forty 
days.  Now,  in  the  smoke-house,  o\er  slow-lnirning  fires 
of  hickory  wood,  they  are  smoked  for  from  thirty  to 
fortv-eight  hcnirs.  In  another  room  men  are  busy  brand- 
ing the  hams  and  bacon  with  red-hot  irons,  for  each 
piece  must  bear  the  stani])  of  (|uality.  Next  they  are 
wrapi)ed  in  parchment  ])a])er,  by  deft-fingered  girls,  and 
are  ready  for  the  market. 

Handling  the  By-Products. —  While  the  .iniount  of 
>ales  of  packing-house  ])rii(luets  anumnts  to  a  "kings 
ransom"  each  year,  the  profit  is  coniparati\  ely  small. 
about  three  cents  on  each  dollar  of  sales,  from  the  dressed 


OF    THE    United    States  201 

meat  and  the  many  by-products.  As  we  approach  the 
sausag'e-room,  whicli  is  pervaded  by  the  smell  of  spices, 
we  note  the  presence  of  many  white-aproned  men  and 
women  dexterously  cutting;  the  pork  trimmings  into  de- 
licious sausai^e.  'J^he  summer  sausages  are  packed  by 
hand,  the  others  are  forced  by  machines  into  hygienically 
clean  casings  of  diflerent  sizes,  and  quickly  passed  to  the 
drying  rooms,  llic  rehning  of  lard  is  an  interesting 
sight,  for  here  the  pork  trimmings  are  rendered  into  this 
product.  'Jlie  animal  fat  is  first  steamed  in  huge  kettles, 
where  it  is  melted  and  purified,  until  run  into  the  last 
kettle,  after  a  final  filtering.  After  being  properly  cooled 
it  is  run  into  another  kettle,  where  it  is  gradually  cooled 
in  great  revolving  cylinders,  filled  with  ice-water,  from 
which  it  is  carried  through  pipes  to  the  pails  and  tierces. 

All  fat  not  utilized  for  any  other  purpose  finds  its 
way  to  the  soap  factory.  In  a  series  of  great  kettles  the 
fats  are  boiled,  after  which  the  substance  is  pumped  into 
revolving  crushers,  where  perfumes  are  added  and  the 
whole  thoroughly  cooled,  after  which  it  is  automatically 
cut  into  cakes,  of  various  shapes  and  sizes. 

After  leaving  the  beef  house  we  seem  to  be  in  a  model 
creamery,  for  the  odor  of  milk  and  butter  is  detected, 
but  it  is  the  butterine  factory.  This  product  is  made  by 
churning  together  oleo,  neutral,  milk  and  cream.  Oleo  oil 
is  made  from  beef  suet,  and  neutral  from  leaf  fat,  both 
coming  from  Government-inspected  animals.  All  the 
mixing  is  done  in  sterilized  vessels,  and,  as  in  all  de- 
partments, cleanliness  is  the  w^atchword.  After  mixing 
the  constituents  in  ])r()])er  ])roportions,  they  are  churned 
in  jacketed  vats,  containing-  milk  and  cream,  and  turned 
int(j  a  runway  containing  ice  and  filtered  water,  where 
it  turns  into  golden  globules.  The  butterine  is  then 
"worked"  like  butter,  salted,  moulded  into  prints  of  vari- 
ous shapes,  wrapped  in  i)archment  ]:)aper  and  packed  for 
the  market. 

There  are  so  manv  thiups  to  see  about  one  (jf  these 


202  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

plants  that  we  may  spend  the  greater  part  of  the  day- 
visiting  the  many  departments.  Students  of  agriculture 
visit  the  fertilizer  plant,  in  which  the  process  of  convert- 
ing animal  matter,  such  as  blood,  bone  and  tankage,  into 
products  for  vitalizing  the  soil  is  studied,  and  this  opens 
up  a  topic  which  is  the  very  foundation  of  agriculture,  for 
the  substance  taken  from  the  earth  must  be  returned  in 
some  form  or  other.  Here  are  also  manufactured  the 
animal  foods. 

At  the  wool  house  thousands  of  sheep  pelts  are 
dressed  every  day,  the  wool  being  pulled  from  the  skins 
and  washed  and  baled,  while  the  skins  are  sent  to  the 
tanner.  The  hoofs  are  made  into  fertilizer,  glue,  buttons 
and  other  articles.  The  bones  are  boiled  to  secure  all  the 
glue,  after  which  they  are  sold  to  the  sugar  factories  to 
be  made  into  bone  black,  for  filtering  and  bleaching 
sugar,  or  they  may  be  made  into  other  products.  The 
bristles  from  the  hogs  are  even  carefully  preserved,  and 
used  in  saddle  factories  and  in  plastering,  and  the  beef 
hides  go  to  the  tanneries.  In  fact,  everything  is  utilized 
for  something:  every  drop  of  blood  and  even  the  teeth 
are  converted  into  a  marketable  j)roduct. 

Had  we  the  space  we  might  also  go  into  the  details 
of  the  manufacture  of  many  pharmaceutical  prepara- 
tions, from  parts  of  the  animals,  which  would  interest  the 
students  of  science  as  well  as  those  of  commerce  and  in- 
dustry. The  making  of  extract  of  beef,  with  the  de- 
scription of  the  enormous  vacuum  pans,  and  white-capped 
girls  packing  the  precious  essense  into  little  jars  and 
bottles,  might  be  instructive,  but  this  is  nothing  com- 
pared with  the  A'aluable  medicines  made  from  various 
glands.  L'ndcr  this  head  comes  the  manufacture  of  the 
digestive  ferments,  such  as  ])epsin  and  ])ancreatin.  It 
is  eh'iiiiied  that  the  meal  industry  is  the  founchition  of 
perhaps  twenty  lesser  inchisirjes,  and  day  after  (hi\-,  week 
after  week,  month  after  month,  the  slaughter  goes  on, 
over  eleven  milh'on  cattle,  funrleen  milbMU  sheep,  iiud 
twenty-five  million  hogs  every  year! 


OF    THE    United    States  203 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  Name,  in  order,  the  states,  from  Canada  to  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico,  across  which  the  Great  Plains  extend. 

2.  Make  a  map  showing  the  location  of  the  packing 
centers.  From  these  cities  trace  railroad  lines  connecting 
them  with  the  sections  producing  the  most  live-stock. 

3.  Why  arc  more  mules  raised  in  Missouri  than  in 
any  other  state?  From  what  states  do  we  get  the  largest 
number  of  beef  cattle?  The  largest  number  of  hogs? 
The  most  sheep  ? 

4.  Why  are  the  packing  plants  located  where  they 
are? 

5.  Why  have  American  meats  sometimes  been 
barred  from  lun-(i])ean  markets?  What  other  countries 
ri\al  the  United  States  in  the  production  of  cattle  and 
hogs  f(ir  the  market? 

6.  What  re(|uirenients  arc  made  of  shippers  of  live 
stock?  Now  arc  cattle  herded  on  the  plains?  Get  all  the 
information  possible  in  regard  to  life  on  a  cattle  ranch. 
How  do  cattle  from  the  plains  compare  with  those 
shipped  from  the  farms? 

7.  How  do  beef  cattle  dififer  from  dairy  cattle? 
A\'hy  are  some  sheep  sold  for  mutton  while  others  are 
kept  on  the  ranch  for  their  wool?  What  is  a  wool-pul- 
lery  ? 

8.  Where  are  the  principal  tanneries  located? 
What  cities  are  great  leather  markets?  Where  are  the 
greatest  shoe  factories  located?     Why? 

9.  At  what  price,  per  hundred,  are  beef  cattle,  sheep 
and  hogs  selling  today?  How  does  the  corn  market  af- 
fect the  live-stock  market? 

10.  ]f  possible,  visit  a  packing  house,  a  cattle  ranch, 
a  shoe  factory  or  a  tanner}/. 


204  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

THE    LEATHER    INDUSTRY   AND 
SHOE   MANUFACTURE 

The  Tanning  Industry  is  one  of  the  very  few  in 
which  American  manufacturers,  while  paying  higher 
wages,  are  able  to  compete  successfully  with  foreign 
factories,  operated  by  cheap  lalxir.  This  is  possible  on 
account  of  our  greatly  im])r(ived  methods  of  tanning  and 
manufacture  with  which  foreign  countries  have  been 
unable  to  compete. 

The  skins  of  the  ox,  cow  and  horse  are  used  in  the 
soles  o£  shoes,  for  harness  and  belting,  the  skins  of  the 
calf  in  shoe-uppers  and  l)ook  covers  and  tliat  of  the  sheep 
and  goats  in  whips,  ajjrons,  cushions  and  gloves.  Tlie 
skin  of  the  hog  is  used  for  tra\eling  bags  and  saddles  and 
the  skin  of  the  dog  furnishes  us  half  the  gloves  wc  wear. 
Our  tanneries  also  handle  the  skins  of  the  elephant,  rhi- 
noceros, walrus,  shark,  deer,  alligator,  hippopotamus, 
buffalo,  kangaroo,  and  other  animals,  and  thus  thousands 
of  men  are  given  employment  to  supply  tlie  demand. 
Over  sixty  thousand  men  arc  employed  in  tlic  tanneries 
of  the  United  States. 

Centers  of  the  Leather  Industry. — The  principal 
centers  of  the  leather  industry  in  this  country  are:  Phila- 
delphia, ]\Iilwaukee,  Newark,  A\'ibuington,  Chicago,  and 
Peabody,  Mass.,  and  they  are  important  in  tlie  order 
named.  Some  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  industry 
may  be  had  from  tlie  fat-t  that  last  year  over  110,000,000 
hides  were  tanned  inln  leather,  \alued  at  <i\er  $260,000,- 
000.  Over  a  million  and  a  half  cords  nf  taidiark  were 
used,  in  atldition  to  other  tanning  material. 


OF    THE    United    States  205 

I-'dniK'rly  oak  and  hemic ick  bark  furnished  all  the 
tannin  used,  but  there  are  now  many  improved  substi- 
tutes in  Chrome  and  vegetable  tannings. 

Science  and  Chemistry  have  done  much  for  this  in- 
dustry by  shortening  very  materially  the  time  required 
for  tanning. 

The  Process  of  Tanning. — The  i)r(>cess,  in  brief,  con- 
sists of  the  immersion  of  the  "green"  hide  for  an  ex- 
tended period,  in  a  solution  of  tannin,  tlie  process  requir- 
ing fr()m  two  to  seven  months.     After  tanninu'  comes  the 


WllKX    ONE    .MAX    MADE    SHOES 

processes  of  currying,  splitting  and  retanning.  for  the 
purpose  of  bringing  the  leather  to  the  desired  state  of 
perfection,  for  it  must  be  pliable  and  elastic  and,  in  most 
cases,  have  a  handsome  finish.  Black  leathers  are  im- 
mersed in  a  solution  of  logwood,  after  which  the}-  are 
finished  in  embossed,  smooth  or  pebbled  leather,  as 
desired. 

Uses  For  the  By-Products.-— There  is  very  little 
waste  in  the  leather  industry,  as  all  cuttings  or  scraps  are 
used  for  some  purpose.  They  may  be  pressed  into  deco- 
rati\e  floor  cloth,  or  reduced  to  a  pul|)  and  pressed  into 
shoe  heels  or  inner  soles,  for  use  in  the  cheaper  grades 
of  shoes.     Scraps  and  skins  may  be  used  in  making  glue, 


2o6 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


the  hair  for  padding-  or  cheap  blankets  and  cloth,  or  in 
plastering.  In  this  industry  absolutely  nothing  goes  to 
waste. 

Boots   and   Shoes. — The   manufacture   of  boots   and 
shoes  ranks  first  in  the  important  uses  of  leather,  for  in 


Courtesy  United  Shoe  Mach.  Co. 
GOODVEAK    WELT    AND    TURN    SHOE    MACHINE 

the  expansion  of  all  of  our  material  resources,  and  in  the 
history  of  our  commercial  development,  there  is  no  in- 
stance of  so  great  an  advance  in  prcxluctive  capacity  as 
that  of  the  manufacture  of  shoes. 

This   is  one   of  the   most   ancient  of   human    handi- 
crafts, and  its  development  has  been  accomplished  with- 


OF    THE    United    States  207 

in  the  last  fifty  years.  Many  people  now  actively  en- 
gaged in  business  life  can  remember  when  all  the  pieces 
from  which  a  shoe  is  made  were  sewn  together,  slowly, 
by  hand.  In  those  days  the  old-time  cobbler,  with  his 
bench  and  apron,  lapstone  and  hammer,  awl  and  wax- 
end,  was  to  be  found  in  every  hamlet.  Some  of  us  have 
watched  him  at  work,  without  realizing  that  we  were 
gazing  upon  tools  and  methods  which  had  hardly  changed 
since  the  dawn  of  history. 

Shoe-Making  Machinery. — We  have  now  seen  the 
ancient  ways  give  place  to  a  marvelous  system  of 
machines,  which  turn  out  hundreds  of  shoes  in  the  time 
required  for  the  old-fashioned  shoemaker  to  finish  a  pair. 
We  may  discover  the  secret  of  this  transformation  by 
going  back  fifty  years  to  the  invention  of  the  sewing 
machine,  and,  afterwards,  the  \Ye\t  system  of  machinery, 
invented  by  Charles  Goodyear,  a  son  of  the  man  who 
gave  the  world  the  use  of  rubber. 

Of  all  the  jjroducts  of  American  ingenuity  there  is 
none  which  is  more  the  child  of  machinery  than  is  the 
modern  shoe.  Textiles  are  woven  or  spun  on  looms  or 
spindles,  but  which  have  little  diversity  of  design ;  the 
parts  of  watches  are  made  and  assembled  by  machines 
as  delicate  as  themselves,  but  no  more  delicate  or  intri- 
cate than  those  devised  for  fashioning  the  shoe,  and 
nothing  like  the  infinite  variety.  The  path  of  the  devel- 
opment of  this  system  is  strewn  with  lost  fortunes  and 
shattered  hopes,  and  lighted  by  fine  examples  of  business 
courage. 

Every  operation  in  the  manufacture  of  shoes  has 
yielded  to  invention.  Besides  the  welting  and  stitching 
machines,  there  are  machines  for  pulling  the  leather  over 
the  last,  thus  developing  the  shoe's  finest  lines;  machines 
for  cutting  the  soles  and  uppers ;  for  shaping,  compress- 
ing and  nailing  heels  ;  for  attaching  soles  to  uppers  ;  for 
rounding,  buffing  and  polishing  the  soles;  for  trimming 
and   setting  the   edges  of  the   soles;  for  performing  in- 


208 


Industri AT -Commercial    Geography 


I.    Lasl.       J.    l'|'|i<.r.      .!.    Insole.      4.    Lasted    shoe.      5.    Welt    iiaitially    se\ve( 

6.   Welt    .sewed.      7.   Outsole.      8.    Ready    for    stitching.      g.   Sole 

stitched.      iri.   Heel    in    place.      it.    Ready   finishing. 


OF    THE    United    States  209 

numcral)Ie  npcrations.  all  essential  tn  perfectit  ni  in  cuni- 
fort,  durability  and  style. 

In  the  early  days,  as  new  maehines  were  invented, 
conii)anies  were  orj^anized  to  manufacture  them,  until 
there  were  many  small  concerns,  some  of  them  barely 
existing'.  Every  manufacturer  had  to  deal  with  many  of 
them,  and  as  there  was  always  difificultv  in  securing  one 
machine  or  another,  the  business  was  unstable.  In  1899 
the  majority  of  these  concerns  were  consolidated.  The 
gathering-  of  these  companies  into  a  single  organization 
wrought  an  instant  change.  Uniform  methods  now  pre- 
vail, any  kind  of  machine  can  be  secured  on  short  notice, 
either  by  purchase  or  under  the  royalty  plan,  which  is 
the  most  common.  Machines  are  rented  to  the  manu- 
facturers and  kept  in  perfect  condition,  and  also  replaced 
when  worn  or  out-of-date.  The  greatest  factory  for  the 
manufacture  of  machinery  is  located  at  Beverl}-.  Mass. 
It  employs  nearly  four  thousand  people,  ships  twenty 
thousand  machines  a  year,  and  replaces  fifteen  million 
parts.  This  company  does  business  in  every  part  of  the 
ci\ilized  world,  and  its  sales  value  in  the  United  States 
represents  forty  million  dollars  annually. 

The  genius  who  brought  about  the  standardization 
of  modern  shoe-making  devices,  and  who  is  enthroned 
today  as  the  machinery  king  of  Xew  England,  is  Sidney 
\y.  AX'inslow,  the  son  of  a  huiul)le  shoemaker,  who 
worked  with  his  father  at  the  bench,  at  Lynn,  Mass.  The 
capital  of  the  shoe  kingdom  is  Boston,  with  the  outlying 
princi])alities  of  Lynn,  Brockton,  Haverhill  and  several 
other  cities.  There  are  also  great  factories  at  Xew  York, 
Philadelphia,  St.  Louis,  Chicago  and  many  other  cities. 
There  are  over  nineteen  hundred  independent  factories, 
em])loying  over  two  hundred  thousand  people,  and  mak- 
ing, a])[)ro.\imately,  250,000,000  pairs  of  shoes  every  year. 

Export  of  American  Made  Shoes. — Since  the  con- 
solidation of  the  various  machinery  com])anies,  ten  }-ears 
ago^  the  commercial  rating  of  the  shoe  manufactures  of 


2IO 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


the  United  States  has  doubled.  In  proportion  to  the 
amount  of  capital  employed  the  value  of  the  product  ex- 
ceeds that  of  any  other  industry.  The  foreign  demand 
for  American  shoes  has  practicall}^  been  created  since 
that  time,  as  a  dozen  years  ago  the  export  of  boots  and 
shoes  from  the  United  States  was  insignificant.  During 
the  past  ten  years  there  has  been  an  advance  of  531% 


LIP  OF  INSOLt 


OUTSOLE 
■■■CHANNCU 


V-  CORK  FILLING       LIP  OF  INSOLE 

STITCH  UNITINO 
INSOLE  UPPCR  AND  wUti 

SECTION    GOODYEAR    WELT    SHOE 


in  the  value  of  exports,  those  for  1913  amounting  to 
v$200,ooo,ooo.  American  shoes  can  now  be  boueht  in 
every  capital  in  Europe,  and  they  are  rapidly  replacing 
European  makes  in  the  centers  of  fashion.  This  condi- 
tion is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that  the  royalty  system  of 
leasing  machines  has  relieved  the  manufacturer  of  carry- 


OF    THE    United    States  211 

ing  a  large  investment,  and  has  given  him  freedom  to  ex- 
tend his  vision  over  the  world-wide  field  of  trade. 

Manufacturers  in  the  United  States  have  not  suf- 
fered by  the  sale  of  machinery  abroad.  The  system  of 
machinery  has  also  been  a  boon  to  labor.  Wages  in  shoe 
factories  are  higher  today  than  ever  before  and  the 
conditions  under  which  the  laborers  are  employed  are 
radically  changed.  Safety,  comfort,  and  cleanliness  in 
factories  have  supplanted  dirt,  danger  and  inconvenience. 
Strikes  are  infrequent,  and  the  relations  between  em- 
ployer and  employed  were  never  before  so  cordial  as  they 
are  at  the  present  time. 

Shoes  today  are  the  only  article  of  general  wear 
made  in  the  United  States  on  an  absolutely  free-trade 
basis,  as  there  is  no  duty  on  shoes  whatever,  and  the 
duty  (in  hides  was  removed  several  years  ago. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  Why  does  leather  have  such  a  wide  field  of  use- 
fulness? 

2.  When  did  the  tanning  of  leather  assume  com- 
mercial importance  in  this  country? 

3.  What  do  you  know  of  the  Hudson  Bay  Com- 
pany, the  Northwest  Fur  Company  and  similar  organi- 
zations? 

4.  W^rite  two  hundred  words  descriptive  of  the  fur 
industry  in  the  United  States. 

5.  What  is  "patent"  leather?  Raw  hide?  Split 
leather?     Parchment?     Levant  Morocco? 

6.  If  possible  visit  a  tanning  and  a  shoe  factory  and 
follow  the  process  of  manufacture  from  start  to  finish. 

7.  From  the  United  Shoe  Machinery  Company, 
Boston,  Mass.,  secure  literature  describing  the  Goodyear 
Welt  process  of  manufacturing  shoes  and  be  able  to 
recite  upon  the  efi'ect  this  invention  has  had  upon  the 
industry. 


212  Industkiai.-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

THE   SALMON   CANNING 
INDUSTRY 

One  of  the  great  industries  of  this  country  is  the 
canning  and  preservation  of  food  in  hermetically  sealed 
packages.  The  principal  articles  canned  in  the  United 
States  are :  Tomatoes,  corn,  milk,  oysters,  corned  beef, 
salmon,  sardines,  peaches,  pears,  beans,  apples,  and  peas, 
— and  they  are  relatively  important  in  the  order  named. 

The  canneries  are  intimately  connected  with  several 
other  industries;  to  the  lumber  industry,  by  annually 
using  over  thirty  million  packing"  boxes,  to  the  tin  plate 
industry  by  using  two  million  boxes  of  tin  plate,  to  the 
])rinting  industry  by  using  over  two  hundred  and  fifty 
million  labels. 

Nearly  half  a  million  people  are  annually  employed 
in  the  canning  industry,  directly  or  indirectly.  The  can- 
neries are  of  vast  advantage  to  the  farmers,  as  they  use 
such  enormous  quantities  of  their  products,  thus  chang- 
ing" the  relation  of  many  foods  to  the  seasons.  What  was 
formerly  used  in  only  one  season  may  now  be  used 
thriiughout  the  year. 

Salmon  Canning  Centers. —  Perhaps  the  most  inter- 
esting branch  of  this  industry  is  the  catching"  and  canning" 
of  salmon,  the  most  important  of  the  fisheries.  The  i)rin- 
cipal  salmon  canneries  are  k)cated  in  Washington  and 
Oregon, — in  the  Puget  Sound  country,  across  the  Cana- 
(lian  border  in  the  \icinit\-  of  V^ancouxer,  and  in  Alaska. 
The  largest  salmon  canneries  in  the  world  are  at  I'.elling- 
liani  and   P.laine,  Washington. 

Of  all  edible  tish,  the  salmon  is  certainly  king.  From 
a  piscatorial  standp(jint  it  carries  the  honor  of  being  chief 


OF    TH1-,    United    States 


21 


provider  for  its  country,  and  it  needs  not  to  be  pampered, 
propagated  or  protected,  it  "just  grows," — no  one  knows 
just  where, — and,  yearly,  at  tlie  psychological  moment, 
obligingly  swims  up  to  its  finish,  at  the  very  door  of  the 
cannery. 

Five  z'arictics  of  salmon  are  taken  in  these  waters. 
Of  these  the  "Spring"  or  "Chinook"  is  the  largest  and 
most  plentiful,  attaining  a  weight  of  from  twenty  to  one 
hundred  pounds,  but  its  pale,  whitish  color  is  not  desired. 


Cuiirtcsy  O.  W.  Ry.  &  Nav.  Co. 
l-ISH     WHEEL— COLUMBIA     RI\'ER 


The  principal  market,  London,  is  conservative,  and  the 
tradition  of  the  fathers  is  that  the  meat  must  l)e  deep 
pink.  Luckily,  the  nimble  and  plentiful  "Sockeye"  sal- 
mon meets  this  demand,  its  flesh  being  firm,  toothsome 
and  of  orthodox  hue.  A  less  desirable  but  e(|ually  plenti- 
ful variety  is  called  the  "Idump-back." 

The  Fishing  Fleet. — Fancy  a  fleet  of  some  two  thou- 
sand smacks,  with  crimson  and  tawny  and  silver  sails, 
manned   by  Japs,   Tlreeks,   Siwashes,   Scandinavians   and 


214  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

Britons,  drifting  lazily  seaward  towards  the  orange-red 
sun,  dropping'  behind  the  snow-veiled  parapet  of  the 
magnificent  Olympics.  So  still  is  the  ensuing  twilight 
that  you  can  hear  the  polyglot  jargon  of  this  flotsam 
and  jetsam  of  the  nations,  as  boat  hails  boat,  and  prophets 
proclaim  the  outlook  for  the  night's  catch.  Then,  with 
the  heaving  flood-tide,  from  the  far,  cold  depths  of  the 
sea,  comes  the  racing,  leaping,  shimmering,  tumbling 
mass  of  salmon  making  for  home,  goaded  by  Nature's 
primeval  instinct  of  propagation. 

One  school  may  be  a  mile  long,  and  the  "run"  will 
continue  for  several  days.  However,  there  is  need  for 
haste,  for  the  packing  season,  for  each  variet}^  is  only 
six  weeks  long,  and  every  boat  must  do  its  utmost. 
The  "Springs"  come  first,  followed  Ijy  the  "Sockeyes" 
for  a  season  of  ecpial  duration,  the  "Hump-backs"  com- 
pleting the  season  in  the  early  fall.  In  the  morning  the 
catch  is  deposited  upon  the  cannery  wharves,  and  the 
packing  begins.  Lest  the  enormous  kill  should,  in  time, 
decrease  the  supply,  six  hatcheries  are  now  maintained, 
and  millions  of  young  salmon  are  annually  distributed 
in  these  waters,  to  take  the  place  of  their  predecessors. 

Fish  Traps. — As  the  canneries  will  no  longer  buy 
speared  fish,  they  are  caught  chiefly  in  traps  and  gill 
nets.  The  trap  is  a  mystifying  arrangement  of  piling, 
wire  netting  and  ropes.  A  row  of  piles,  sometimes  over 
a  luindred  feet  in  length,  are  set  from  ten  to  fifteen  feet 
ai)art,  starting  from  the  shore  and  running  diagonally 
from  the  incoming  tide  to  deep  water.  The  wire  netting 
is  secured  to  these  posts  and  hekl  down  by  stones  or 
other  weights.  This  is  called  the  "lead,"  and,  according 
to  law,  must  not  be  over  2,500  feet  long. 

The  law  also  regulates  the  mesh  of  the  wire  and 
nets  used.  At  the  outer  end  of  tbis  "lead"  is  the  "pot" 
in  dec])  water,  hut  not  (lec])cr  than  sixty-five  feet  at  low 
tide.  Flanging  the  mouth  of  the  pot  are  short  rows  of 
])iles,  strung  with  netting  in  such  a  way  that  when  the 


OF    THE    United    States  215 

schools  of  lish  strike  the  lead,  and  follow  it  to  deep 
water,  they  are  turned  toward  the  mouth  of  the  "funnel" 
of  the  pot  by  the  flanges,  called  "hearts."  The  pot  is 
suspended  on  piles  like  a  huge  dip-net  forty  feet  scjuare. 
The  funnel  is  a  hole  about  ten  feet  in  diameter,  so  ar- 
ranged that  when  fish  are  once  in  they  are  almost  cer- 
tain to  remain  until  the  trap  is  full,  when  they  are 
turned  into  an  extra  yard  of  netting  called  a  "spiller," 
and  are  loaded  into  scows  to  be  taken  to  the  canneries. 

This  operation  is  a  wonderful  sight,  particularly 
so  when  there  are  from  twenty  to  seventy  thousand 
salmon  in  the  pot.  It  is  estimated  that  the  fish  ha\'e  Init 
one  chance  in  ten  thousand  to  escape,  when  once  within 
the  trap !  A  floating-  trap  has  been  patented  recently, 
and  promises  to  be  very  successful,  as  the  cost  is  only 
about  one-third  as  much  as  the  dri\en  ones. 

Aiiotlicv  mcfliod,  carried  on  in  a  smaller  scale,  is  called 
reef  or  bar  fishing.  One  end  (if  the  web  is  fastened  on 
the  shore,  and  the  other  end  is  given  to  a  man  in  a 
gasoline-driven  boat,  who  runs  out  and  around  the  school 
of  fish,  playing  out  the  web  as  he  goes.  The  web  has 
large  iron  rings  in  the  lower  edge,  and  a  rope  runs 
through  these.  When  the  fish  are  surrounded,  the  ends 
of  the  rope  are  drawn  up  and  the  "purse"  of  salmon  is 
pulled  ashore.  These  webs  are  usually  1,500  feet  long, 
125  feet  deep  and  cost  $700. 

Along  the  Columbia,  and  other  rivers  of  the  North- 
west, the  fish  wheel  is  a  common  sight,  purse  seining 
being  forbidden  by  law.  In  most  of  these  rivers  the 
waters  become  literally  alive  with  the  silvery  "Chinook" 
and,  as  they  flow  towards  the  sea,  their  current  revolves 
the  huge  framework,  upon  each  arm  of  which  is  swung 
a  basket  of  wire  netting.  The  fish  hug  the  shore  Avhile 
going  up-stream,  jumping  over  obstacles  along  the  way, 
and  in  attempting  to  jump  over  the  wheel  are  caught  and 
thrown  into  a  larger  net  often  by  the  hundreds.     There 


2l6 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


are  single   days   when   one   salmon   wheel   will   take   out 
over  tive  hundred  dollars  worth  of  fish. 

Competition  is  as  great  in  the  fish-canning  business 
as  in  any  other,  and  most  of  the  canneries  keep  bu}ers 
in  the  "field,"  going  from  boat  to  boat  and  buying  all 
they  can  get.  Some  of  these  boats  will  carry  in  twenty 
thousand  fish  to  the  cannery.  Upon  arrival  they  are  un- 
loaded in  a  uniciue  manner.  As  they  must  not  be  speared 
or  cut.   each  of  the  unloading  crew   uses  an   implement 


Conyl,-sy  O.  II'.  Ry.  &  Xai:  Co. 
SALMON    CANNERY— BELLINGHAM,    WASH. 

which  consists  of  a  single  steel  prong,  or  hook,  set  in 
the  end  of  a  five-foot  handle.  This  prong  is  dexterously 
caught  in  the  gills  of  the  fish  and  the}-  are  unloaded,  one 
at  a  time. 

Preparing  the  Fish. — Until  recent  years  all  of  the 
canning  companies  contracted  with  a  "Hoss"  Chinaman 
at  San  Francisco,  to  send  the  re(iuired  number  of 
"Chinks"  to  do  the  work,  as  they  were  found  lo  be  more 
faithful  workers  than  white  men. 


OF    THE    United    States 


21' 


However,  this  plan  has  been  lari[;ely  su])erseded  l)y 
the  use  of  a  machine  called  the  "Irnn  <"hink,""  A\hieh 
does  the  work  more  rapidl\-  and  much  l)etter, — almost 
without  waste.  The  fish  are  fed  into  it  as  corn  is  fed 
into  a  sheller,  and  it  cuts  off  the  head,  tail  and  tins, 
scrapes  <jff'  the  scales  and  opens  and  cleans  the  fish  at  one 
turn  of  the  wheel,  and  it  runs  as  rapidly  as  men  can 
feed  it.  The  saving  in  meat  alone  wdll  so<jn  pay  for  a 
machine. 


-^^^^■rf:r:^^'4^.-'?^^  '  :•; 


Courtesy  O.  IV.  Ry.  &  Nav.  Co. 
INTERIOR,    SALMON    CANNERY 


Canning  Machinery. — When  cleaned,  the  fish  are 
l^laced  in  the  buckets  of  a  belt  conveyor  and  carried  up 
against  a  series  of  circular  knives,  wdiich  cut  the  fish 
into  ])ieces  as  long  as  the  cans  are  tall.  These  pieces 
are  automaticall}'  carried  to  tables,  where  girls  place 
them  in  cans.  These  then  go  to  another  table  where  a 
piece  of  tin  is  placed  on  the  meat  to  catch  the  drop  of 
solder  which  might,  otherwise,  reach  it.  One  turn  around 
the  machine  and  the  tops  are  crimped  on.  The  tilted 
cans  are  now  rolled  through  a  bath  of  acid,  to  remove 
the  grease,  and  then  through  one  of  solder. 


2l8 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


After  the  small  openin,!:;'  in  the  top  of  the  can  has 
been  sealed,  and  the  cans  tested,  they  are  placed  in  the 
cookers  and  kept  at  l)oiling-  temperatures  for  twenty 
minutes.  A  hole  is  punched  in  the  top  of  each  can  to 
allow  the  surplus  steam  to  escape,  and  then  sealed. 

The  second  codkint;'  follows,  an  liom-  at  248  degrees. 
After  a  lye  bath,  to  remove  tlie  grease,  the  cans  go  to 
the  warehouse,  which  contained,  when  the  accom])any- 
ing"  view  was  taken,  200,000  cases  of  four  dozen  cans 
each. 


Courtesy  O.  W.  Ry.  &  Nav.  Co. 
CANS     READ^■     I'OR     STTTPMEXT 


'Idle  final  process  is  the  labeling,  ])ut  it  is  none  the 
less  interesting".  'J'he  cans  roll  down  an  incline,  over 
a  paste  brush,  llu'  next  turn  i)icks  up  one  end  of  the 
label,  the  next  the  other  end,  the  next  passes  it  under 
a  ])ressure  band,  and   tlu'   work  is  done. 

Throughout  the  ])rocess  the  salmon  is  never  touched 
with  the  bare  hands,  and  intiiiite  pains  are  taken  to  keep 
the  meat  clean.  bi\e  steam  is  turned  on  the  machines 
and  tables  at  tlu-  idose  of  each  da}'s  work.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  t'an  but  ;i  teas])(  lonful  of  salt  and  the  I'lsb. 


OF    THE    United    States  219 

A  steamer  may  be  on  one  side  of  the  cannery,  loading 
for  Europe,  while  a  train,  on  the  other  side,  will  carry 
a  load  to  any  part  of  the  United  States. 

A\'hile  this  industry  seems  interesting  and  pictur- 
esque to  the  layman,  with  it  is  connected  much  labor, 
expense  and  infinite  care.  To  avoid  damage  from  the 
toredo,  all  jailing  must  be  removed  as  soon  as  the  season 
is  over  in  the  early  fall,  and  all  vessels  must  be  taken 
from  the  water.  The  web  must  all  be  cleaned,  repaired, 
and  tarred,  to  preserxe  it  until  the  season  opens  the  fol- 
lowing spring.  It  is  nothing  uncommon  to  see  from  ten 
to  twenty  acres  of  drying  racks.  One  company  alone 
spends  $175,000  annually  before  taking  a  fish.  Each  trap 
costs  from  $7,500  to  $10,000  to  build.  No  one  should 
visit  the  Northwest  without  inspecting  a  cannery  and 
following  the  interesting  processes  through  which  the 
fish  pass  "from  river  to  can." 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  How  man\-  kinds  of  fresh-water  fish  can  you 
name?     How  many  kinds  of  salt-water  fish? 

2.  Make  a  map,  showing  the  coast-line  from  lialti- 
more  to  St.  Johns,  Newfoundland,  and  shade  the  fishing 
banks.  Locate  Portland,  Gloucester,  Boston,  Providence, 
Norfolk. 

^.  AA'here  are  lobsters  obtained?  Ovsters?  Cod? 
Herring?    Clams? 

4.  How  are  cod-fish  caught?  How  are  they  pre- 
pared for  the  market  ?  What  cities  are  important  curing 
points?  What  international  difificulties  have  arisen  con- 
cerning this  industry? 

5.  W  hat  are  sardines?  Where  are  they  obtained? 
What  are  most  of  the  sardines  on  the  market,  in  reality? 
How  may  the  genuine  be  known? 


220  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

6.  What  is  a  game-fish?  Name  several  varieties? 
Do  salmon  belong-  to  this  class? 

7.  What  varieties  of  hsh  are  obtained  from  the 
Great  Lakes?  Wliere  are  the  must  valuable  fishing- 
grounds?     Where  are  they  prepared  for  the  market? 

8.  What  is  the  United  States  Fish  Commission? 
A\'hat  is  its  work?  What  action  have  difterent  states 
taken  along  this  line? 

9.  Trace  a  shipment  of  salmon  from  Bellingham, 
W^ashington,  to  London,  by  steamship.  From  Van- 
couver to  Toronto,  l)y  rail.  From  Seattle  to  New  York. 
What  lines  would  be  used  and  where  would  transfers 
be  made? 

10.  What  is  halibut?  A\'hat  is  the  ])t'culiaritv  of 
this  fisli  ?     I  b)w  is  it  sold? 

11.  Where  are  salmon  (ilUainrd  from  the  Atlantic 
Ocean?  Are  they  canned,  as  is  the  custom  on  the 
Pacific?  How  do  they  compare  in  quality  with  the 
Pacific  product? 

12.  How  does  the  Columbia  River  compare,  in  size, 
with  other  inland  bodies  of  water?  Make  a  map  showing 
Puget  Sound  and  the  Alaskan  Coast  line. 


OF    THE    United    States  221 


CHAPTER    XX\' 

IRON   AND   STEEL 

From  the  commercial  point  of  view,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  inni  industry  is  the  greatest  wonder  of  the 
age.  Destinies  of  nations  are  influenced  by  it,  for  iron 
is  the  foundation  of  civilization.  Iron  transformed  into 
steel  by  adding  a  few  tenths  of  one  i)er  cent,  of  carbon 
made  possible  the  cheap  railroad  and  thousand-foot 
steamship.  Steel  is  the  main  element  in  the  construction 
of  the  machinery  that  does  the  drudgery  of  enlightened 
nations.  Steel  is  revolutionizing  the  architecture  of  our 
cities,  as,  by  combining  strength  and  lightness  to  the 
highest  degree,  it  has  made  possil)lc  the  tireproof  build- 
ing forty  or  more  stories  high. 

No  other  cause  has  contributed  more  to  the  cheap- 
ening of  freights  than  the  Imilding  of  railroads  of  steel 
instead  of  iron.  The  all-steel  train  can  go  farther  and 
quicker,  and  with  greater  safety,  than  ever  would  have 
been  possible  before  its  invention.  Steel  freight  cars 
carry  heavier  loads,  in  proportion  to  their  weight,  than 
wooden  cars.  A  train  now  carries  three  times  as  much 
freight  as  it  did  twenty  years  ago,  and  at  a  greatly 
reduced  cost.  Great  bridges,  all  over  the  world,  are  built 
of  American  steel,  and  it  has  other  uses  without  num- 
ber. It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  this  country  leads 
the  world,  in  this,  the  basis  of  all  manufacturing  in- 
dustries. 

Iron  Ore  is  found  in  twenty-five  of  the  states  and 
territories,  l)Ut  nearly  all  that  is  manufactured  comes 
from  the  Lake  Superior  region  or  from  the  Alabama 
district.  The  mines  of  the  lake  region  are  found  in 
Northern  Minnesota,  Northern  Wisconsin  and  the  Michi- 


222 


Industk I Ai -Commercial    Geography 


g'an  Peninsula.  'Iliese  states  produce  three-fourths  of 
all  the  iron  ore  mined  in  the  United  States.  The  Ala- 
1)ania  district  is  at  the  Southern  end  of  the  Appalachian 
Mountains,   near  the   city  of  Birmingham. 

Mining  Iron  Ore. — If  the  ore  lies  near  the  surface, 
the  earth  is  first  removed  by  use  of  steam  shovels,  and 
hauled  awa}-,  then  the  shovels  are  used  to  load  the  ore 
upon  cars.     This  is  called  "open  pit""  mining.     If  the  ore 


(-*-i  '',»jL  fSOn  OftE        'i^^-^y"'^'^ 


SCALE,  11 7;0oo,ooo  IRON  OKE  SHIPPING  ROUTES 

SCALE   OF  MILES 

0  Too  200  aoo 

h)  \  1  mii.  tono  of  iron  ore  a  year 

jng  iron      ti  if 


IRON    ORE    SIIIl'lMXC,    ROUTES 


is  deep  down  Iicncath  ihc  surface,  a  shaft  is  sunk,  and  the 
ore  is  taken  out  as  coal  or  any  other  mineral  is  mined. 
This  is  called  "shaft"  mining.  This  is  a  more  ex))ensive 
process  than  the  ■■o])en  pit"  nietliod,  ])ut  it  is  necessary, 
as  about  sc\cnl\-  per  cent,  of  the  ore  is  obtained  in  this 
manner.  The  shaft  mines  may  be  operated  during  the 
entire  \  ear,  while  the  o]^en  mines  cannot  be  worked 
during  the  winter  months  in  cold  climates. 


OF    THE    United    States 


223 


The  discovery  of  the  Mesabi  Range,  at  the  liead  of 
Lake  Siiperidr,  was  the  greatest  single  factor  in  phicing 
this  connlrv  in  its  exalted  position,  for  here  is  not  onl}- 
a  deposit  i)rudncing  more  than  any  four  others  in  the 
world,  but  also  the  greatest  reserve  supply  to  be  found 
on  earth.  Besides  manv  others,  here  are  the  ti\e  greatest 
iron  mines  in  the  wurkl,  the  Adams,  the  ]\biimtain  iron, 
the   l*'ayal,  the   Mahoning  and  the  Stevenson. 


Courtesy  Diiluth  Mesabi  &  N ortlicrn  Ky. 
STEAM    SHOVEL    LOADING    ORE 


These  mines  have  been  worked  to  a  depth  of  from 
fifty  to  two  hundred  feet,  and  their  greatest  area  of  ore 
still  remains  uncovered  at  the  surface.  Three  of  these 
mines  produce  more  ore  than  the  entire  state  of  Ala- 
bama, or  than  the  sixty-odd  mines  of  the  IMarquette 
range.  The  state  of  Minnesota  produces  more  ore  than 
anv    entire    country,    except    German}-,    and,    when    the 


224  IxDusTRiAT -Commercial    Geography 

demand  calls  fur  the   wurkinq-  of  all  of  the  mines,  those 
of  Germany  will  sink  into  insiL;niticance. 

Manganese  Iron  Beds. — The  discovery  of  the  new 
Caynna  Range,  west  of  Dulnth,  means  much  to  the  in- 
dustry, for  here  is  manganese  ore,  indispensable  in  the 
manufacture  of  steel.  This  ore  is  worth  nearly  four 
times  as  much  as  hematite,  because  of  the  efifect  of  the 
manganese  in  freeing  the  rolls.  Manganese  steel  is  used 
for  rails  on  railroad  curves,  for  ])lowshares,  cogwheels, 
dredge  teeth,  and  burglar-proof  safes.  Most  of  the 
American  supply  has  been  imported  from  Brazil,  India, 
Cuba,  Spain  and  Germany.  The  addition  of  manganese 
ores  in  unlimited  supply,  to  this  country's  list  of  raw 
materials,  gives  the  United  States  leadership  in  every 
branch  of  the  iron  and  steel  industry. 

The  Lake  Superior  Region. — There  is  no  summer 
tri])  mure  interesting  and  full  of  information,  than  that 
to  the  Lake  Superior  region.  I'rum  Uuluth,  a  short  ride 
to  Hibbing,  lands  us  in  the  heart  of  the  Mesabi  "Range," 
which  was  discovered  in  1890  and  first  worked  in  1892. 
One-sixth  of  all  the  iron  in  the  world  is  shipped  from  this 
point.  Here,  instead  of  mines  deep  down  into  the  earth, 
we  find  an  open  field  of  from  forty  to  a  hundred  acres. 
The  ore,  instead  of  standing  vertically,  as  in  most  mines, 
and  running  down  to  great  dej^ths  in  a  narrow  vein, 
spreads  out  near  the  surface  in  great  horizontal  beds. 
Instead  ol  blocks  of  hard  iron  ore,  we  see  manv  acres 
of  what  appears  to  be  Idack,  yellow  and  red  dust,  but  it 
'■^  high-grade  iron  ore. 

^^lere  are  no  miners  with  pick  and  slio\cl  and  drill, 
groping  around  a  thousand  feet  underground,  but  a 
steam  engine,  on  the  surface,  under  the  control  of  one 
man,  scoops  up  the  ore  with  a  shovel  that  lifts  five  tons 
and  drops  it  in  a  car  alongside.  One  of  these  shovels, 
in  an  Ivnir,  does  as  much  work  as  ii\e  hundred  men 
Could  do  in  a  da\-  in  an  nnflercrround  mine. 


OF    Till-:    United    States 


225 


Here  is  the  real  secret  of  American  su])i"emacy. 
Every  steam  shoxel  keeps  two  or  three  enL;ines  l)usy 
switching  cars  onto  the  main  track  and  making  up  trains. 
One  shovel  will  load  a  hfty-ton  car  in  three  minutes.  The 
cost  of  loading  is  only  a  few  cents  per  ton  for  labor  and 
fuel.    l)ut    the    operation    is    fascinating   in    the    extreme. 


Courtesy  Burr  Mcintosh,  A',  i'. 
BESSEMER    CONVERTERS    AT    WORK 


The  engineer  touches  the  lever,  a  great  steel  support, 
carrying  the  sho\'el,  drops  on  the  ore,  the  engine  pufifs 
sharply,  and  the  shovel  bites  into  the  ore  and  swings  it 
over  into  the  car.  In  three  hours  a  fifty-car  train  is 
made  up,  ready  to  carry  its  2,500  tons  of  ore  to  the  docks 
seventy-five  miles  away.     Along  the  terraces  of  the  IVIa- 


226 


I  N  DUSTRI AL-COM  MERCIAL     GkOGRAPHY 


honing  mine  a  hundred  steam  shovels  may  be  seen  at 
work  at  the  same  time,  and  the  switching  scheme,  which 
enables  the  dozens  of  trains  to  pull  in  and  out  without 
delay,  blockade  or  accident,  is  a  wonder. 

Steel  Plant  at  Duluth. — On  a  1700-acre  site,  ten  miles 
west  of  Duluth,  Minn.,  is  being  erected  one  of  the  great- 
est steel  plants  in  the  world.  Along  a  two-mile  water 
front  are  the  docks  at  which  the  product  will  find  ship- 
ment to  lake  ports.  Here  the  coal  for  the  blast  furnaces 
will  be  loaded.  While  this  seems  a  long  way  to  haul 
coal,  this  very  item  was  the  deciding  economic  argument 


Courtesy  Burr  Mcintosh,  A'.  V. 
A     PITTSBURGH    NIGHT    SCENE 


for  the  building  of  this  plant,  as  the  vessels  carrying 
ore  east  can  carry  coal  on  the  return  trip  at  a  very  low 
rate,  as  over  one-half  of  the  lake  vessels  ha\c  been  re- 
turning with   water  ballast. 

The  World's  Greatest  Ore  Docks. — I'nmi  the  Mcsabi 
Range,  ore  can  l)c  laid  down  at  the  Duhilh-Superior  and 
Two  Harbors  docks  at  a  little  over  a  dollar  per  ton.  The 
great  shipment  of  ore  from  these  points  has  led  to  the 
erection  licre  of  the  world's  greatest  ore  (Im-ks,  and  lias 
built  up  the  densest  traffic  in  the  world.  Oik-  of  these 
docks  is  over  two  thousand  feet  long.  The  mines  of  tliis 
section  furnish  the  greater  part  of  the  cargo  that  keeps 


OF    THE    Un^eb    States 


227 


in  operation  a  fleet  of  nearly  eight  hundred  vessels  dur- 
ing" the  "open"  season  of  seven  months,  carrying  the  ore 
to  the  vicinity  of  the  furnaces,  the  greatest  being  at 
Pittsburgh,  Cleveland,  South  Chicago  and  Gary,  Indiana. 
The  tonnage  passing  through  the  "Soo"  canal  is  more 
than  fi\c  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  Suez  canal.  It 
exceeds  that  of  New  York.  London, ■Li\eri)ool  and  Ham- 


3^  f1il^il^;]^ni| 


■Mt 


ffiiffliiiiliifl 


Courtesy  Woodmen  of  tlic  World,  Omaha 
A    FINISHED    PRODUCT 


burg,  during  the  time  it  is  possible  for  vessels  to  operate. 
The  trade  is  so  masterfnl  and  supreme  on  the  great  lakes 
that  it  has  even  dictated  the  type  of  ships  to  be  used,  and 
the  design  of  shipping  and  receiving  docks.  Special  ships 
have  been  Ijuill  and  special  machinery  designed  to  care 
for  it,  the  like  of  which  can  be  found  nowhere  else  in 
the  world. 


228  Industriat -Commercial    Geography 

How  Ore  Is  Shipped. — The  early  shipment  of  ore 
from  the  Lake  Superior  region  was  attended  with  much 
toil  and  difficulty.  All  of  the  ore  had  to  be  hauled  in 
sleds  to  the  shore  of  the  lake,  where  it  was  loaded,  by 
means  of  wheel-barrows  and  gang-planks,  upon  little 
schooners  and  taken  to  Sault  Ste  Marie,  unhjaded  and 
hauled  around  the  falls,  and  loaded  again  upon  similar 
ships. 

All  (if  the  vessels  then  engaged  in  the  industry,  with 
their  cargo,  could  now  be  easily  stored  in  the  hold  of 
one  of  the  great  lake  steamers.  The  method  of  unloading 
was  equally  primitive,  a  block  and  tackle  being  attached 
to  the  ship's  mast  and  to  the  dock,  which  accommodated 
a  rope  attached  to  a  bucket,  to  carry  the  ore.  A  horse 
on  shore  pulled  the  bucket  to  the  dock,  and  to  get  it  to 
the  hold  again,  he  backed  up.  Later,  "donkey"  engines 
took  the  place  of  the  Imrse,  and  these  were  used  until  the 
invention  of  the  unloading  machine  in  1880,  by  use  of 
wliich  the  system  of  loading  and  unloading  has  reached 
perfection.  The  steamer  George  IV.  Perkins  loaded  10,514 
tons  of  ore  in  eighty  minutes  and  unloaded  it  in  two 
linurs  and  forty  minutes. 

The  unloading  is  done  b}-  use  of  great  cranes,  oper- 
ated b}-  machinery,  wliich  carry  self-filling  buckets 
capable  of  grabbing  from  the  vessel's  hold  from  ten  to 
twelve  tons  of  ore  at  a  time,  which  is  (juickly  swung  into 
open  cars,  in  much  the  same  manner  as  it  was  first 
loaded  by  the  steam  shovel.  The  greatest  unloading 
(locks  are  at  Ashtabula  and  Conneaut,  Ohio. 

Kinds  of  Iron. — 'Die  three  lonns  of  iron  in  general 
use  are  "pig"  or  cast  iron,  wrought  iron  —  which  is  cast 
iron  treated  in  a  "puddler"  to  make  it  weldable  and 
tougher — and  steeh  which  is  cast  iron  wrought  to  the 
highest  degree  of  (|nality.  To  obtain  "p'.^'  ''"'i  '•'1*-'  <>i'C 
must  be  smelted  in  a  blast  furnace.  'I'his  nianmioth 
ttn'iiace  resembles  a  lamp  chiniiKw  in  shape  and  is  con- 
structed  of  steel    and    hnc'(l    with    a    water    jacket   of   fire- 


OF    THE    United    States  229 

l)rick  or  some  other  substance  that  will  protect  it  from 
the  great  heat.  It  is  charged  from  the  top,  with  alter- 
nate layers  of  ore,  limestone  and  coke,  while  at  the  bot- 
tom is  introduced  a  strong  current  of  air.  The  chemical 
reactions  which  take  place,  when  the  currents  formed 
by  the  mixing  of  hot  gases  and  solid  substances  meet, 
result  in  the  production  of  molten  cast  iron,  which,  when 
drawn  ofif  and  moulded  into  bricks  called  "pigs,"  is 
ready  for  the  converters. 

The  Bessemer  Process. — The  most  noted  method 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  steel  is  the  Bessemer  process. 
This  consists  in  charging  molten  pig  iron  into  a  jug- 
shaped  steel  vessel  called  a  converter,  and  forcing  a  blast 
of  air  through  it  until  the  silicon,  manganese  and  carbon 
are  burned  out,  and  then  restoring  a  small  portion  of  the 
manganese  and  carbon  by  adding  some  form  of  re- 
carburizing  material.  The  converter  is  so  mounted  that 
it  can  be  rotated  from  a  vertical  to  a  horizontal  position. 
The  molten  pig  iron  is  charged  into  it  when  horizontal, 
then,  when  raised  to  its  vertical  position,  the  blast, 
which  maintains  a  pressure  of  from  twenty-five  to  thirty 
pounds  per  square  inch,  is  automatically  turned  on  from 
the  bottom.  The  blowing  continues  from  five  to  eight 
minutes,  when  the  converter  is  turned  to  a  horizontal 
position  again  and  the  re-carlnn-izing  material  added,  and 
the  charge  is  then  ready  for  casting  into  ingots. 

The  open-hearth  process  is  also  used  extensively  in 
the  manufacture  of  steel,  and  consists  in  exposing  the 
])ig  iron  to  the  direct  action  of  a  greater  volume  of  flame 
than  is  possible  in  the  Bessemer  process.  This  is  accom- 
plished in  what  is  called  a  regenerative  gas  furnace,  and 
the  product  is  very  much  like  that  obtained  by  any  other 
process. 

PittsbitrgJi  is  known  the  world  over  as  the  "Smoky 
City,"  for,  over  the  valley  where  it  is  located,  has  hung, 
since  the  birth  of  the  industry,  a  great  mass  of  fumous 
clouds,  and  under  them  the  great  converters  paint  the 


230  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

skies  of  the  night  with  a  Hving  fire.  All  along  the  river 
the  black  stacks  of  the  furnaces  direct  a  pyrotechnic  dis- 
play without  parallel.  The  scene  is  beautiful  beyond 
description  and  interesting  as  it  is  spectacular. 

A  Rolling  Mill. — To  manufacture  from  iron  and 
steel,  special  machinery  has  been  invented  to  conform 
to  the  great  weight.  Pneumatic  trip-hammers  were 
called  for  and  rollers  large  enough  to  press  out  a  fifty- 
ton  piece  of  armor  plate  or  shafting.  In  many  of  the 
mills  the  motive  power  is  electricity,  by  use  of  which  one 
man  may  turn  a  switch,  causing  a  great  crane  to  pick 
up  a  ten-ton  ingot  and  lift  it  into  a  car,  which  is  to  haul 
it  to  the  rolling  mill,  with  apparently  as  nnich  ease  as 
the  man  turned  on  the  switch.  At  the  rolling  mill,  auto- 
matic tables  ])ull  and  push  the  mass  back  and  forth, 
between  the  rollers  and  under  the  trip-hammers,  until 
reduced  to  the  desired  shape.  Next,  giant  shears,  oper- 
ated by  hydraulic  pressure,  cut  and  trim  a  two-inch  sheet 
as  easily  as  a  seamstress  cuts  cloth. 

If  we  were  to  use  no  iron  we  should  be  obliged  to 
return  to  very  jjrimitixe  ways  of  life.  We  need  only  to 
think  of  the  many  articles  in  daily  use  to  understand 
how  mucli  the  iron  and  steel  industry  means  to  us.  We 
could  not  dispense  \\itli  iron  in  the  construction  of  our 
houses,  and  farming  could  not  be  done  without  the  many 
labor-saving  implements  made  from  iron  and  steel.  The 
railroad  traffic  of  to-da\'  would  be  impossible  without 
iron  and  steel  for  the  rails,  engines  and  cars.  The 
wooden  boats  ha\e  been  largely  displaced  by  \essels 
of  steel,  and  steel  framework  is  the  support  of  all  large 
buildings.  Large,  strong  and  lasting  bridges  are  ])os- 
sible  because  steel  enters  almost  cntircl\'  into  their  con- 
struction. I  ri  iU  ]■>  the  niiist  usclul  and  inipiirtant  ot  all 
metals. 


OF    THE    United    States  231 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  Make  a  map  of  the  Great  Lakes,  locate  the  iron 
ranges,  and  trace  a  shipment  of  ore  to  the  steel  mills. 
Indicate  the  location  of  these  mills  upon  the  map. 

2.  Why  is  it  more  economical  to  shi])  the  ore  to 
the  coal  than  it  would  be  to  ship  the  coal  to  the  ore? 

3.  Distinguish  between:  Pig  iron,  malleable  iron 
and  steel.  A\'hat  is  the  difference  between  forged  steel 
and  Bessemer  steel?  A\'hich  is  used  for  cutlery?  AMiich 
for  armor  plate? 

4.  What  changes  in  farming  would  take  place  if 
iron  and  steel  were  not  to  be  obtained?  AMiat  changes 
about   the   household? 

5.  Why  is  a  canal  being  constructed  from  Lake  Erie 
to  the  vicinity  of  Pittsburgh?  Name  the  principal  cities 
connected  with  the  iron  and  steel  industry. 

6.  What  substances,  manufactured  l:)y  the  use  of 
iron,  are  used  for  clothing,  food  or  other  purposes? 

7.  Obtain  specimens  of  brown  hematite,  red  hema- 
tite, magnetite,  carbonate  and  pyrites  and  note  the  color 
and  character  of  each.  Which  \-ariety  is  found  in  the 
greatest  (juantities? 

8.  AAdiat  has  made  this  country  the  leading  nation 
in  the  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel?  What  men  have 
been  largely  responsible  for  the  development  of  the  in- 
dustry ? 

9.  A\  here  are  the  greatest  shipyards  in  this  coun- 
try? llie  greatest  locomotive  works?  The  greatest 
stove  manufacturing  plants?  The  greatest  lake  ship- 
yards ? 

10.  How  does  the  production  of  iron  and  steel  in 
this  country  compare  with  that  of  other  countries?  Name 
the  other  countries  in   order  of  their  importance. 

11.  Andrew  Carnegie  characterized  a  skyscraper  as 
"A  bridge  stood  on  end."  What  comparison  can  you 
make  concerning  the  construction  of  each? 


232 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XXVI 


THE   COAL   SUPPLY 

The  action  of  Ex-])resident  Roosevelt  in  withdraw- 
ing- from  sale  and  entry  over  seventy  million  acres  of 
land,  which  are  underlaid  with  coal  deposits,  and  the 
reversal  of  this  order  bv  the  succeedins;  administration, 


■J'll-     COAL     KKdIONS     OF     TllK     IXITED     STATES. 
J  lie   black  areas  are  anthracite  and  bituminous;   the   shaded  areas  are   lignite. 


was  largely  responsible  fur  the  wholesale  discussion  of 
the  conservation  movement.  It  became  a  question  of 
national  importance.  11tc  mo\  enu'iit  toward  this  con- 
servation was  probably  i)ronipted  by  the  fact  that  ex- 
perts claim  that,  at  the  present  rate  of  consumption, 
all  the  anthracite  coal  in  this  country  will  be  exhausted 
in  fifty  years,  and  the  bituminous  suppl\-  in  twice  that 
lime.  The  German  government  long  ago  bought  back- 
all  of  Its  coal  lands  and  the  mines  of  that  country  are 


OF    THE    United    States  2W 


^00 


operated  under  its  control.  The  Canadian  Gox'ernment 
has  done  likewise.  The  advantages  obtained  by  proper 
mining-  methods  will  be  apparent,  when  it  is  understood 
that  it  has  always  been  the  custom  in  this  country, — 
and  the  custom  still  prevails, — to  mine  only  the  princi])al 
vein  in  a  locality;  this  mine  afterwards  caves  in  and  the 
settling  of  the  ground  ruins  all  other  veins  for  future 
use,  a  method  as  wasteful  as  that  of  the  lumbermen  who 
cut  only  the  choicest  trees,  allowing  the  growing  supply 
to  be  broken  down  and  burned  in  the  forest. 

Pciiiisyh'aiiia  is  the  greatest  coal-mining  state  in  the 
Union,  having  a  monopoly  of  the  anthracite-bearing 
area,  the  onlv  other  sections  being  in  Colorado  and  New 
Mexico. 

7'lic  lufinniiiDiis  areas  are  scattered  widely  over  the 
United  States,  the  most  productive  sections  being  in  the 
States  of  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Maryland,  Virginia,  West 
Virginia,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Illinois,  Missouri,  Iowa 
and  Montana.  These  states  comprise  a  coal-producing 
area  five  times  as  great  as  that  of  all  Western  Europe 
combined. 

The  distinction  between  the  two  principal  kinds  of 
coal  is  that  the  anthracite  contains  84  per  cent,  or  more, 
of  lixed  carbon,  and  very  little  ash,  sulphur  and  moisture, 
while  bituminous  coal  contains  only  from  50  to  75  per 
cent,  of  fixed  carbon,  the  remainder  being  waste  matter. 

Anthracite  coal  is  a  staple,  the  price  of  which  fluctu- 
ates very  little  and  varies  only  in  proportion  to  the  dis- 
tance it  is  hauled  to  the  retail  market.  There  is  no  com- 
])etition  at  present  in  the  coal  trade;  eighty-three  i)er 
cent,  of  all  the  hard  coal  in  the  United  States,  and 
ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the  entire  coal  output  of  the 
country  is  controlled  by  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading 
Railroad  Co.,  which  owns  sixty-three  per  cent,  of  the 
coal  lands.  This  road  practically  controls  the  coal  busi- 
ness of  seven  other  roads,  doing  business  in  Pennsyl- 
vania.     By   owning"  the   coal    lands   and   mines,   hauling 


234 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


all  the  coal  and  eliminating'  the  middleman,  the  roads 
make  three  profits  grow  where  only  one  grew  before !  It 
is  a  noticeable  fact  that  all  dealers  charge  the  same 
prices  for  the  same  grades  of  coal  in  the  principal  cities. 
It  is  claimed  that  they  are  under  contract  with  the  pro- 
ducers to  maintain  a  certain  price  or  forfeit  their  future 
supply. 

Coal  Production. — The  earliest  record  of  anthracite 
coal  production  in  the  United  States  was  in  1814,  when 


i  oiirtcsy  Cit.  Xortlinii  l\y.  t 
COAL    OCrCRol'I'IXC— W  "^■OMIXG 


twenly-two  tons  were  mined  in  PennsyKania.  It  is  said 
that  it  was  sold  to  the  owner  of  an  iron  furnace,  who 
became  disgusted  with  his  bargain  w  Iicn  it  apparently 
refused  t^  burn,  and  kft  hi^  i)ost  to  find  llie  man  who 
had  defrauded  him.  Upon  giving  up  his  search  and  re- 
turning to  his  furnace  he  found  llie  doors  nielled  off! 
In  Missouri  rind  Iowa  the  mining  of  bilumiiuius  coal 
began  about  iS|o  and  coal  was  lirst  disco\ered  in  tlie 
West,  in  what  is  ncnv  the  State  of  Washington,  in  1852. 


OF    THE    United    States  235 

Over  four  hundred  million  tons  of  coal  are  mined 
in  this  country  every  year,  giving  employment  to  over 
six  hundred  thousand  men  and  boys.  .\  coal-mining" 
town  is  different  from  any  other  mining  town,  from  the 
fact  that  the  supply  is  not  exhausted  so  frequently,  the 
great  shafts  and  drifts  running  deeper  into  the  earth 
year  after  year. 

The  coal  miner  becomes  a  hxture,  working  many 
years  in  the  same  mine,  the  l)o}'s  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  their  fathers,  becoming  old  in  the  same  town, 
where  their  own  sons  will  i)erhaps  follow  them  in  the 
same  business.  At  the  age  of  eight  or  ten  the  boys  are 
sent  to  the  breakers  to  pick  the  slate  from  the  coal,  at 
fifteen  they  l:)ecome  laborers  about  the  mine,  later,  after 
having  acquired  skill  they  become  miner's  helpers  and 
afterwards  full-Hedged  miners.  Then,  as  age  comes  on, 
or  when  the}-  become  cri]:)pled  in  the  mines,  they  begin 
the  backward  trip,  first  as  miner's  helpers,  then  mine 
laborers,  and  finally  breaker  boys,  at  the  same  wages 
thev  received  when  eight  years  old. 

Mines  in  this  country  may  be  divided  into  two  gen- 
eral classes,  the  horizontal,  where  the  shaft  is  tunneled 
into  the  mountains,  and  shaft  mining,  where  shafts  must 
be  sunk  perpendicularly  until  the  vein  of  coal  is  found. 
Over  the  shafts  are  buildings  for  housing  the  machinery 
for  hoisting  and  lowering  the  men  and  coal.  The  deepest 
shaft  in  America  is  at  W'ilkes-Barre,  Pennsylvania.  It 
is  1,060  feet  deep,  12x52  feet  in  diameter  and  has  five 
compartments. 

The  subterranean  passages  of  a  coal  mine  are  laid 
out  with  the  utmost  jn-ecision.  rivaling  the  most  regu- 
larly planned  streets  of  a  city.  The  main  thoroughfare 
is  generally  seven  or  eight  feet  high  and  twice  as  \vide, 
with  doul)le  tracks  for  the  passage  of  the  coal  cars.  At 
right  angles  the  side-streets  are  tunneled  from  both  sides, 
forming  the  workrooms  of  the  miners. 


236 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


The  inodcni  coal  mine  possesses  a  mechanical  equip- 
ment of  no  mean  proi^ortions.  First  there  must  be  a 
fanning-  system  for  ventilation,  then  there  arc  sanitation, 
draining-  and  electric  lighting  systems,  telephones,  elec- 
tric conveyors,  and  a  fire  department  of  which  many  an 
incorporated  city  would  be  i)rou<l.  The  introduction  of 
improved  machinery  has  changed  the  whole  aspect  of 
these  subterranean  communities  within  the  i)ast  few 
vears. 


From  an  old  print 
OLD    mi:  Tllon.    MINING    COAL 


bOrmcrly,  tlie  coal  was  mined  b\-  men  \\-ith  picks 
and  shovels,  and  hauled  to  the  surface  ])\  horses  or 
mules.  Now  niiglu}  electric  or  compressed  air  cutters, 
with  their  endless  belts  of  glittering  teeth,  gnaw  rapidly 
iutn  the  black  strata  of  the  mine,  and  trolley  cars  i)ull 
the  coal  ti >  the  elevators.  Mechanical  drills  pound  out 
tlic  holes  for  the  cartridges  of  black  jiowder. 

^  As  the  coal  comes  from  the  mines,  it  is  in  all  varieties 
of  sizes  and  sha]-)es,  and  must  go  iuimediately  to  the 
breakers,  where  it  is  Hrst  dumped  onto  a  screen  n-iade  of 
bars   six    inches   ;i]);irl.      The    coal    passes    through    these 


OF    THE    United    States  237 

spaces,  then  goes  over  lower  bars  with  three  and  one- 
half  inch  spaces,  the  coal  passing-  over  both  of  these  be- 
ing handpicked  to  remove  the  impurities.  From  the 
bars  the  lump  coal  passes  to  a  series  of  rolls  for  a  tirst 
breaking  down,  and  thence,*  after  picking,  to  the  second 
rolls,  which  crush  it  into  "broken"  size  and  under. 

The  transportation  of  coal,  from  the  place  of  mining" 
to  all  parts  of  the  country,  for  final  use,  is  a  business  of 
great  magnitude.  In  its  accomplishment  there  is  brought 
into  play  not  only  the  executive  genius  of  the  heads  of 
the  great  railroad  and  steamship  companies,  but  also  the 
inventive  talent  of  the  engineers  who  have  devised  labor- 
saving  and  speed-increasing-  a]ipliances.  Six  thousand 
tons  of  coal  -were  loaded  ).ipon  a  steamer  in  six  hours 
recently,  and  it  can  be  unloaded  in  about  the  same  time. 

Coal  is  transported  by  water  at  a  comparatively  low 
price,  the  Great  Lakes  rate  being  about  thirty  cents  a 
ton,  per  thousand  miles,  and  some  of  the  large  boats 
will  carry  8,000  tons.  Railroad  cars,  loaded  with  forty 
tons,  arc  lifted  l)odil_\-  liy  great  cranes  and  their  con- 
tents dumped  into  the  vessels.  From  l^ittsburgh  to  New 
Orleans  the  rate  is  about  fifty  cents  a  ton,  the  coal  be- 
ing loaded  upon  barges,  and  several  of  them  are  fastened 
together  in  the  form  of  a  raft  and  floated  down  the 
rivers.  Some  of  the  principal  distributing  points  are,  in 
order  of  their  importance, — Pittsburgh,  New  York, 
Philadelphia,  Chicago,  Bufifalo,  Cleveland,  Toledo, 
Duluth,  Superior,  St.  Louis,  Cincinnati,  Boston  and  Mil- 
waukee. 

Coal  a  Great  National  Asset. — The  transfer  of  com- 
mercial and  industrial  supremacy  from  Great  Britain 
to  the  United  States  has  been  coincident  with  this  na- 
tion's passing  of  the  former  as  a  producer  of  coal.  As 
machinery  plays  its  increasing  role  in  the  workshops 
of  production,  the  nation  which  possesses  the  largest 
supply  of  coal  will  dictate  the  economic  policy  of  the 
world.      This   country    not    only    possesses    the   greatest 


238 


IXDUSTRIAL-COMMERCIAL     GEOGRAPHY 


coal  areas,  but.  by  the  employment  of  the  newest  labor- 
saving  devices  in  the  mines,  obtains  its  product  at  a 
price  greatly  below  that  of  any  other  country. 

Alaskan  Coal  Fields. — As  coal  is  the  material  energy 
of  industrv,  the  manufacturing  advantage  which  the 
L'nited  States  possesses,  in  its  comparatively  cheap 
supply,  will  influence  enormousl}-  the  future  commercial 
development  of  the  world.     It  is  e\  en  probable,  on  ac- 


COMPRESSED    AIR    MACHINE    DRILL   AT    WORK    IN    A    COAL    MINE 


count  of  the  rapid  exhaustion  of  the  European  mines, 
that  this  country  will  eventually  control  the  coal  markets 
of  Euro])e,  as  il  has,  for  man}'  years,  the  market  for 
cereals,  but  the  ])riccs  will  never  be  an}-  lower  unless  the 
business  is  regulated  1)}  legislative  enactment.  I'he 
only  chance  we  ha\e  had  to  decrease  the  price  of  coal 
by  increasing  the  supply,  la}-  in  the  development  of  our 
coal  fields  in  Alaska,  but  that  chance  seems  to  have 
about  ])assed  from  us,  although,  perhaps,  no  fields  in  the 
world  equal  those  in  richness.  There  are  billions  of 
dollars  worth  of  coal  there,  in  veins  rising  with  the  hills, 
very  near  the  surface  and   sometimes   actually   exposed. 


OF    THE    United    States  239 

The  coal  ma)-  be  easily  mined,  it  is  not  far  from  the 
sea,  and  railroads  can  be  built  to  tidewater  over  prac- 
tically le\el  ground,  liiit,  unless  quick  action  is  taken, 
this  will  soon  all  pass  into  the  hands  of  a  monopoly 
which  will  ('utrixal  the  one  now  controlling  the  supply 
and  we  will  ha\e  to  buy  l)ack,  at  a  high  price,  the  coal 
that  is  reall}-  our  own! 

The  most  satisfactory  plan  would  be  for  the  Gov- 
ernment to  own  the  mines,  and  lease  them  to  the  mining- 
companies  under  a  definite  contract,  allowing  them  a 
reasonable  profit. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  Obtain  specimens  of  as  many  \arieties  of  coal  as 
possible.      From   what   localities   were   they   oljtained? 

2.  What  are  the  peculiarities  of  lignite  coal?  Where 
is  it  obtained?  \\  hat  is  cannel  coal?  For  what  is  it 
used?     What  is  peat? 

3.  What  is  a  coaling  station?  How  do  ships  re- 
ceive their  coal? 

4.  How  is  coke  obtained?  A\'hy  is  it  used  instead 
of  coal  in  the  manufacture  of  iron  and  steel?  What  are 
the   principal   by-products   of   coal? 

5.  A\diat  ^■ariety  of  coal  is  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  illuminating  gas?     A\'hat  is  a  "fat"  coal? 

6.  Make  an  outline  map,  showing  the  areas  of  coal 
production.  Wliat  other  countries  produce  great  (juan- 
tities  of  coal  ? 

7.  Locate,  upon  your  outline  map.  the  coal-carrying 
railroads  and  indicate  the  location  of  the  principal 
markets. 

8.  A\diy  is  coal  cheaper  at  Duluth  than  at  Omaha? 
Trace  a  trainload  of  coal  from  Scranton,  I'ennsyhania, 
to  Wichita,  Kansas.     What  railroad  lines  would  be  used? 


240  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

9.  What  is  meant  by  long  ton?  Short  ton?  Ts 
there  an  ordinance  in  yonr  city  governing  weights  and 
measures? 

10.  Why  do  we  sometimes  find  the  prints  of  leaves 
and  ferns,  upon  pieces  of  coal?  Examine  a  piece  of  coal 
under  a  strong  magnifying  glass. 

I  1.  What  effect  has  the  use  of  coal  had  u])on  ci\il- 
ization?  W  hv  is  wood  l)urne(l  in  some  localities  instead 
of  coal? 

12.  Discuss  the  relati\e  \alue  of  different  grades 
of  soft  coal,  hard  coal  and  coke  as  fuel  in  your  o\\  n  home. 

13.  What  is  ])eat?  In  Nebraska  and  other  W  estern 
states  there  are  large  deposits.     For  what  used? 


OF    THE    United    States  241 


CHAPTER    XXVI I 

PETROLEUM  AND  ITS  PRODUCTS 

Crude  pcfrolcimi  is  the  most  valuable  li(juid  on  earth, 
next  to  water.  Great  reservoirs  of  it  underlie  many  of 
the  states  and  it  is  found  in  almost  all  countries.  It  is 
usually  found  in  the  vicinity  of  coal  fields  and  is  the 
product  of  a  continuous  distillation  which  transpires  in 
the  formation  of  coal,  a  process  which  has  been  in  prog- 
ress for  countless  ages.  In  its  crude  state  it  is  a  heavy 
liquid,  varying  in  color  from  a  dark  greenish  tint  to  steel 
gray. 

American  Oil  Lights  the  World. — The  product  from 
American  fields  is  carried  where\er  a  wheel  rolls  or 
a  camel's  foot  can  be  ])lanted.  Across  the  Desert  of 
Sahara  the  caravans  go  laden  with  astral  oil.  It  burns 
before  altars  in  India  and  in  many  heathen  lands  the 
nati\'es  sat  in  darkness  until  the  oil  merchant  came.  In 
the  most  remote  parts  of  China  a  case  of  kerosene  is  a 
familiar  sight  to  men  who  have  never  heard  of  America. 
It  has  dispelled  gloom  in  the  huts  of  the  Arctic  explor- 
ers and  brings  cheer  to  the  herder's  dug-out  in  Australia 
and  South  America. 

American  Oil  Beds. — As  early  as  1819  petroleum  was 
disco\ered  in  Kentucky.  Salt  wells  were  abandoned  as 
useless  on  account  of  the  presence  of  a  dark  oil  floating 
on  the  surface  of  the  brine.  Similar  experiences  were 
encountered  in  Pennsyh'ania,  and  no  use  was  made  of  the 
oil,  until  an  enterprising  Yankee  bottled  it  and  sold  it 
as  a  "cure-all"  for  sprains  and  almost  every  other  ail- 
ment. Woolen  blankets  were  spread  over  the  oil,  which 
floated  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  when  fully  satu- 


242 


Industrial-Commerc  JAL    Geography 


rated  with  the  oil  they  were  wrung-  dry  and  the  process 
repeatecL  The  first  oil  well  drilled  for  the  purpose  of 
obtaining'  oil  was  sunk  l^y  Edwan  Drake  near  Titusville, 
Penn.,  in  1859.  The  venture  was  successful  and  others 
followed  in  quick  succession,  as  soon  as  methods  for  re- 
hning  and  using  the  nil  came  into  use. 

The  center  of  the  oil  industry  has  alwa^'s  been  at 
Pittsburgh,  and  it  is  through  its  oil  trade  that  Western 
Pennsyhania  is  best  known  throughout  the  Avorld.  The 
district  includes  eight  refineries  and  has  supplied  in  one 


Courtesy  M.  K.  I'r  7'.  Ry.  Co. 
oil.     Wl'.I.LS— EASTERN     KANSAS 


vcar  as  high  as  thirt\"-fi\'e  million  barrels;  howc\'cr.  this 
(|uantit\'  has  rcccnlly  ])ccn  exceeded  by  C 'ali  loniia.  with 
a  i)i'i  iductii  m  (if  ii\er  sixt\'  million  barrels  in  (me  \ear. 
Th(.'  Calil'orma  oil  boom  ])egan  in  iSyj.  when  a  well 
was  drilK'd  in  the  suburbs  of  f.os  Angeles.  .'Scores  of 
wells  ha\e  since  been  sunk  llu'i'e  and  in  iither  ]);irt>  (il  the 
state,  and  the  enornioU'^  \  ield  has  been  the  result.  (  )i] 
is  kiuL;  in  (  ali  I'l  iriiia  t(Kla\',  for  ten  tlion^-and  derricks 
ui)liold  its  throne.  It  was  worth  thirty  nnllion  dollars 
to  the  state  last  year,  exclusi\e  of  increased  land  \alues. 


OF    THE    United    States  243 

I'his  far  exceeded  the  entire  gold  1  nitintt  of  the  state  and 
surpassed,  1)y  three  niilHons,  the  \alue  of  all  citrus  fruits 
placed  ui)()n  the  market. 

Rich  California  Oil  Wells. — The  richest  strike  in  the 
history  of  oil  was  the  Lakeview  gusher,  near  Bakers- 
field,  California,  as  it  has  produced  more  oil  than  the 
agg"i'e§ate  of  all  the  greatest  gushers  ever  known  in  the 
wnrld.  Man}-  have  produced  more  at  the  start  than  the 
daily  output  of  the  Lakeview,  but  none  of  these  kept 
up  the  performance  much  longer  than  a  month.  When 
two  and  one-half  months  had  passed  the  Lakeview  had 
produced  two  and  one-half  million  barrels  of  oil,  and  the 
tfow  had  increased  to  sixty-one  thousand  barrels  a  dav. 

The  Texas  oil  field,  at  Beaumont,  is  noted  fur  its 
enormous  yield,  as  four  of  its  greatest  gushers  alone  pro- 
duce twice  as  much  oil  as  all  of  the  wells  in  Pennsyl- 
\ania.  If  the  California  and  Texas  oil  were  of  the  same 
grade  as  that  produced  in  the  Eastern  and  Kansas- 
Oklahoma  regions,  the  sudden  uncovering  of  such  a  sup- 
])ly  would  paralyze  the  oil  industry.  However,  the  Cali- 
fornia and  Texas  oils  are  of  a  much  heavier  grade  than 
that  produced  in  the  Eastern  regions.  They  have  an 
asphalt  instead  of  a  paraffine  base,  and  refining  gives  only 
twenty  per  cent,  of  illuminating  oil  as  against  seventy 
per  cent,  from  ihe  older  fields.  The  heavy  residuum  of 
the  Southern  and  Western  oils,  after  refining,  furnishes 
a  fuel  of  e\'en  greater  heat-])roducing  pijwer  than  coal, 
and  it  is  in  this  field  that  its  future  lies.  It  is  already 
successfull}-  used  on  the  loconiotix'es  of  the  Western  lines 
of  the  Santa  Ee  and  Southern  Pacific  Railroads  and  gives 
perfect  satisfaction,  as  it  is  cheaper  than  coal  and  pro- 
duces no  smoke  or  dust.  Sprinkled  along  the  right-of- 
way  it  kills  the  weeds,  prevents  dust  and  preserves  the 
ties.  It  is  burned  successfully  in  stoves,  furnaces,  fac- 
tories and  on  steamships,  and  roads  sprinkled  with  it  be- 
come almost  e(|ual  to  those  co\ered  with  asphalt. 

A  well  is  sunk  for  oil  in  \erv  much  the  same  manner 


244  InDUSTRIAL-CcIMMF.RC  TAL     Gkoc.raphy 


Courtesy  M.  K.  &  T.  Ry.  Co. 
A    "tiUSllKU"— OKLAHOMA 


OF    THE    United    States  245 

that  we  drill  for  water,  except  that  the  operation  is  upon 
a  larger  scale.  When  the  well  has  reached  the  oil-bearing 
strata,  at  a  depth  of  from  eight  hundred  to  fifteen  hun- 
dred feet,  a  torpedo,  containing  from  one  to  twenty-tive 
gallons  of  nitro-glycerine,  is  carefully  lowered  to  the  bot- 
tom and  discharged  by  dropping  an  iron  weight  upon  it. 
The  operation  is  called  "shooting"  the  well,  the  ex- 
plosion suddenly  driving  away  the  oil  and  creating 
a  chamber  into  which  it  soon  returns,  and  then  forces 
its  way  to  the  surface  with  more  or  less  violence.  In 
one  Texas  well  the  flow  came  with  such  force  that  the 
derrick  was  demolished  and  several  hundred  feet  of  iron 
pipe,  four  inches  in  diameter,  weighing  upwards  of  six 
tons,  was  thrown  a  distance  of  about  three  hundred 
feet  in  the  air.  The  oil  geyser  afterwards  settled  down 
to  a  steady  flow,  rising  to  a  height  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,  falling  in  a  spray.  The  oil  came  out  of  this 
well  at  the  rate  of  fifty  thousand  barrels  a  day,  and  it 
was  nine  days  before  the  well  could  be  capped  and  the 
waste  stopped. 

United  States  Oil  Production. — \\'hen  the  first  well 
was  drilled  in  Pennsylvania  the  entire  output  of  petro- 
leum was  only  eighty-four  thousand  gallons  a  vear.  To- 
dav  the  United  States  alone  produces  over  six  billion 
gallons  per  year.  The  entire  history  of  the  industry  reads 
like  a  romance.  It  seems  almost  incredible  that  it  was 
first  regarded  as  worthless,  then  sold  in  small  bottles  as 
a  medicine,  until  a  process  for  refining  was  discovered 
and  the  kerosene  of  commerce  made  its  appeararice. 
While  the  new  oil  was  superior  to  whale  oil,  lard  oil  or 
tallow  candles,  which  had  been  used  for  illuminating  up 
to  this  time,  it  was  not  wholly  satisfactory  on  account  of 
its  liability  to  explode  from  heat.  P.ut  chemists  found 
the  cause  of  the  trouble  to  be  naphtha,  which  they  then 
found  a  way  to  remove. 

in  the  earlier  days  the  residuum  after  refining  was 
discarded  as  worthless,  but  this  was  afterwards  discov- 


246 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


ered  to  contain  many  valuable  substances.  At  present 
over  two  hundrecl  different  chemicals  and  other  prepa- 
rations are  made  from  it. 

The  by-products  are  as  valuable,  if  not  more  valuable, 
than  the  rehned  oil  itself.  They  include  gasoline,  rhigo- 
lene,  benzine,  naphtha,  paraffine,  lubricating  oils,  petro- 
latum, roofing  pitch,  coke,  aniline  dyes  and  a  large  num- 
ber of  medical  preparations.  Paraffine  is  used  exten- 
sively in  making  chewing  gum,  waterproof  paper,  candles, 
for  covering  fruit  and  jelly  jars  and  countless  other  pur- 
poses.    Twelve  million  pounds  of  petrolatum,  the  basis 


Lourtcsy  M.  K.  t'r  f.  Ry.  Co. 
OIL    REMXllkV— TEXAS 


of  vaseline,  are  produced  annually  by  the  Standard  (  )il 
Company  alone.  Lul)ricaling  oils,  adapted  to  all  Isinds 
of  machinery,  are  manufactured  annually  by  this  com- 
pany to  the  amount  of  four  million  barrels.  l'"i-i'ni  the 
Western  oil  as])]ia]tnm  is  derixed,  which  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  paxin^  l)lotd<->,  r(»ofing.  insulaling  and 
waterprooling  materials  and  for  road  oil.  The  cake 
residuum  furnishes  the  carbon  jioints  used  in  arc  lamps, 
and  then  there  are  pharmaceutical  i)reparations  almost 
without    nundier.       The    utilization   of   these   various    by- 


OF    THE    United    States  247 

products  has  required  the  greatest  speciaHzation  of 
methods,  the  constant  encouragement  of  invention  and 
an  immense  amount  of  capital. 

Oil  Refineries. — Most  of  the  refineries  are  located 
near  great  bodies  of  water.  The  product  of  the  Penn- 
sylvania region  is  refined  at  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  Chicago,  Buffalo  and  Cleveland.  That  from 
the  Kansas-Oklahoma  field  is  refined  at  Independence, 
Mo.,  and  Chicago ;  that  from  the  Texas  field  at  Galveston, 
and  the  product  of  the  California  region  at  Los  Angeles 
and  San  Francisco.  At  first  the  oil  was  conveyed  in 
casks,  but  that  was  soon  found  to  be  too  expensive,  and 
the  tank  car  and  pipe  line  were  devised,  for  use  on  land, 
and  the  tank  ship  soon  appeared  upon  lake  and  ocean. 

The  first  pipe  line,  laid  in  1862,  was  four  miles  in 
length.  At  the  present  time  there  are  nearly  one  hundred 
thousand  miles  of  pipe  line,  most  of  it  being  the  property 
of  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  carrying  the  oil  from  the 
wells  to  the  refineries  and  markets.  This  pipe  would 
reach  around  the  earth  almost  four  times !  The  company 
also  owns  over  ten  thousand  tank  cars,  enough  for  a  train 
reaching  from  New  York  to  Philadelphia — also  an  enor- 
mous fleet  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  steamers  and  sail- 
ing vessels,  which  transports  petroleum  and  its  products 
to  the  far  corners  of  the  earth. 

Export  of  Crude  Oil. — Most  of  the  crude  oil  which 
is  exported  goes  to  France  and  S])ain,  where  it  is  treated 
in  local  refineries,  the  duty  on  refined  oil  to  these  coun- 
tries being  alnKjst  prohibitive.  For  the  C)riental  trade 
the  oil  is  shipped  in  cases  of  five  gallons  each,  two  cans 
strapped  together  being  called  a  "case."  Five  cargo 
steamers  are  devoted  to  this  trade  on  the  Pacific,  while 
twelve  more  steamers  attend  to  the  coast  trade.  The 
largest  tank-ships  contain  about  two  million,  five  hundred 
thousand  gallons,  and  so  powerful  are  the  pumps  by 
which  they  are  controlled  that  such  a  cargo  can  be  taken 
on  board  or  delivered  in  six  hours. 


248  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

The  hull  of  the  ship  is  (li^'icled  into  nianv  air-tinht 
CKinpartments,  which  are  kept  hermetically  sealed  from 
port  to  port,  as  a  precaution  against  fire.  Occasionally 
these  ships  take  fire,  as  a  result  of  leaks,  and  can  only 
be  saved  by  sinking  them.  As  the  compartments  are 
water-tight  there  is  nt)  loss  of  oil  in  those  remaining 
intact,  but  the  cost  of  raising  the  vessel  to  the  surface  is 
enormous. 

The  Siaiidard  Oil  Company,  organized  in  1882,  is  the 
most  conspicuous  of  the  world's  oil  refineries.  It  is  our 
largest  American  exporter  and  is  the  greatest  and  most 
powerful  organization  in  the  world,  excepting  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation,  ft  has  an  authorized  capital  of 
$110,000,000.  but  this  does  not  represent  all  of  its  cai)i- 
talization.  It  owms  property  in  every  ci\'ilized  country, 
controls  twenty-six  plants,  and  is  the  largest  employer  of 
labor  in  the  world.  Seventy  thousand  jieople  are  required 
to  carry  on  the  extensive  operation  of  this  company,  the 
occu])ations  represented  include  nearly  all  of  the  trades 
in  which  men  are  engaged.  Among  them  are  one  thou- 
sand boiler  and  tank  makers,  and  fifteen  hundred  shi]) 
builders.  Thirteen  thousand  men  are  engaged  in  oper- 
ating the  l)i])e  lines — eight  thousand  li\e  hundred  in 
]:)roducing,  ])urchasing  and  measuring  the  oil,  twent\' 
thousand  in  refining  and  handling  it,  twehe  thousand  in 
distributing  and  marketing  in  this  country,  and  twelve 
thousand  in  the  foreign  trade,  also  twelve  hundred  in  the 
general  administration  of  afifairs. 

The  ]K'rtect  organization  of  this  conipan\-  makes  it 
possible  for  it  to  sell  oil  in  luiropean  countries,  with 
as  extensi\'e  tlelds  as  oin"s,  if  it  were  not  kept  out  by  a 
high  tariff.  Persia,  Bulgaria,  I'lUrma,  Cexltm,  Un^sia, 
Australia  and  ])arts  of  Sontli  America  ha\e  ininieuse  un- 
developed liehU,  but  indixidual  effort  largeh'  ])re\ails 
there  and  the  fields  are  unde\elope(l.  fhe  Russian  oil 
fields  are  as  extensi\o  as  ours,  yet  the  largest  corporation 
there  in  the  '  lil  business  has  a  capitali/atii  mi  i  it  1  me  inillii  mi 


OF    THE    United    States  249 

dollars.  Tn  Italy,  S])a!n  and  Egypt  wells  are  yet  drilled 
by  hand,  and  the  pnmps  are  operated  in  the  same  way. 
ddic  use  of  the  "grasshopper  connection-rod,''  which 
pumps  a  dozen  or  more  wells  by  one  engine,  was  re- 
cently ]:)rohibited  in  I'urkey  because  each  would  throw 
forty  men  out  of  work!  It  seems  that  for  many  years  to 
come  the  United  States  will  furnish  oil  to  the  greater 
part  of  the  world.  Idie  Standard  (  )il  Company  is  an 
organization  intensely  American.  Much  of  its  success 
has  come  from  its  selection  of  men.  as  it  has  searched 
the  ci\'ilized  world  for  talent  and  skill.  E\en  the  elevator 
boys  in  the  general  offices  are  selected  with  an  idea  to 
their  dexelopment. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  Obtain  as  many  petroleiun  ])roducts  as  possible 
for  study. 

2.  Indicate  the  ]irincipal  oil  regions  on  an  outline 
niaj).  Show  how  these  areas  are  connected  with  the  cities 
where  refineries  are  located. 

3.  A\'hv  has  the  ]:)etroleum  industry  grown  so  rap- 
idly? 

4.  AMiat  other  country  rivals  the  United  States  in 
the  ])ro(luction  of  ])etr()leum?  Why  has  the  industry  not 
acKanced  there  as  rapidly  as  in  this  country? 

5.  Discuss  the  influence  of  petroleum  and  its  ju-od- 
ucts  u])on  our  social  and  economic  life.  What  effect  has 
it  hatl  upon  the  industrial  arts? 

6.  WHiat  is  the  connection  between  the  petroleum 
industr}-  and  the  supply  of  natural  gas?  \Miy  are  these 
products  the  most  economical  and  satisfactory  fuel  for 
use  in  the  manufacture  of  glass? 


250  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

7.  Whale  oil,  pitch,  tallow,  paraffine,  kerosene,  gas 
and  electricity  have  each  been  used  in  turn  for  the  pur- 
pose of  illumination.     Discuss  the  relative  value  of  each. 

8.  Obtain  the  pr()]:)er  medium  for  burning  a  portion 
of  each  of  the  lirst  six  and  experiment  with  the  same. 

9.  How  has  the  petroleum  industry  influenced  the 
manufacture  of  automobiles  and  gasoline  tractors? 

10.  \\'hy  are  prices  of  petroleum  products  higher 
now  than  they  were  several  years  ago  when  refining  had 
not  reached  its  present  state  of  perfection? 


'1 


OF    THE    United    States  251 


CHAPTER    XXVIII 

GOLD— FROM   MINE   TO   MINT 

The  great  financial  panic  of  1857,  the  greatest  in  the 
history  of  this  countr}-,  rendered  the  National  treasury, 
as  well  as  the  greatest  commercial  and  industrial  enter- 
prises, practically  bankrupt.  At  that  time  we  were  min- 
ing some  gold  in  Georgia,  North  Carolina  and  California, 
but  all  of  our  silver  was  obtained  from  Mexico.  The  Civil 
War  was  about  to  begin  at  the  ver}^  moment,  when,  in 
1859,  two  of  the  greatest  discoveries  in  the  history  of  this 
country  were  made,  that  of  oil  in  Pennsylvania  and  of 
gold  in  Colorado.  In  less  than  ninety  days  over  twenty 
thousand  men  spread  over  the  territory  tributary  to  Clear 
Creek,  Colorado,  where  they  washed  great  quantities  of 
gold  from  the  banks  and  beds  of  the  streams.  Millions 
were  taken  then,  and  hundreds  of  millions  have  since 
been  extracted,  fn  nn  the  quartz  veins  that  rib  the  moun- 
tain sides,  from  wliich  the  gold  originally  found  in  the 
valleys  was  eroded  by  the  storms  and  tempests  of  the 
ages.  Such,  in  brief,  Avas  the  ince])tion  of  civilization  in 
the  Rocky  Mountains. 

Science  Aiding  Mining. — This  has  become  the  age  of 
metals.  The  evolution  has  Ijeen  great.  The  mining  over- 
seer has  given  way  to  the  mining  engineer,  who  makes 
accessible  the  material  for  our  progress.  In  the  early 
days  the  world  did  not  need  so  much  ore  as  at  the  present 
time,  and  a  sufficient  amount  was  easily  accessible.  Now, 
scientific  means  are  required  to  reach  the  treasure  and 
l)ring  it  to  the  surface.  This  is  done  by  the  use  of  the 
most  modern  appliances  for  securing  and  delivering  the 
ore  at  the  mills  and  refineries.  The  largest  mine  in  the 
world    today,   the    Homestake,   at    Lead,   South    Dakota, 


252 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


which  in  thirty  years  has  produced  almost  one  hundred 
niilHon  dollars"  worth  of  !;old,  would  be  valueless  had 
not  the  mininu'  eni>ineer  ft)un(l  a  way  to  handle  its  vast 
product  of  low-grade  ore. 

The  miner  is  the  one  individual  who  refuses  to  recog- 
nize the  im]:)ossil)le.  Tie  is  always  willing  to  sto])  any- 
where, under  any  circumstances,  to  talk  about  mines,  and 
he  is  always  hopeful,  joyous  and  l)Uoyant.  Xo  matter  if 
he  never  made  a  dollar  from  a  mine  in  his  life,  he  is 
alwavs  certain  that  he  will  "strike  it  rich"  soon. 


Luuitcsy  Li-'ic.  ::iciillicni  A'v.  L  o. 
A     PROSPECTOR'S    CABIN     AND    :\riXE 


Placer  Gold  Mining. — The  first  discoN  erics  were 
called  "placer"  gold:  nugget>  or  grains  washe(l  to  the 
surface.  The  most  ])rimitive  utensil  used  by  the  early 
miners  was  the  pan.  which  they  partially  Idled  with  dirt 
thought  to  contain  gohl,  then  Idled  it  to  the  rim  with 
water,  causing  the  sand  to  si'llle  to  ihr  Ixittiiui  ;is  the 
pan  was  gently  rocked,  after  which  the  water  and  nnul 
were  poured  off,  lea\-ing  the  p;irticles  nl  gi'ld  alone  rc- 
m;iining  in  a  spoonful   "i  s;nid.      Alter  the  pan  c-anie  the 


OF    THE    United    States  253 

rocker,  l)y  tlie  use  of  which  more  dirt  could  l)e  treated 
witli  the  same  (i])erati(in.  This  was  followed  by  the 
sluice-box  or  trench,  a  wooden  ditch,  with  rirne-l)ars  or 
blocks  set  across  the  bottom.  A  stream  of  water  is  di- 
verted from  its  course  t]irc)Ui;h  this  sluice  and  the  dirt 
is  thrown  in  with  shovels.  As  it  w^ashes  over  the  ob- 
structions at  the  bottom,  the  gold,  being  heavier,  is 
caught  in  the  cre\ices  and  the  refuse  is  carried  away  by 
the  water.  When  the  water  is  shut  off  the  gold  is  gath- 
ered from  betw^een  the  blocks. 

Hydraulic  Mining. — d"he  most  elaborate  of  all  the 
means  of  working  placers  is  the  hydraulic  monitor.  By 
this  method  a  stream  is  dammed,  somewdiere  above  the 
working,  and  the  water  carried  down  through  great  pipes, 
usually  twenty-two  inches  in  diameter.  This  water  is 
delivered  into  an  iron  monitor,  wdiich  directs  a  stream 
against  the  bank  of  earth  to  be  washed,  through  a  nozzle 
from  six  to  nine  inches  in  diameter,  with  a  rending  power 
that  is  terrihc,  tearing  down  the  very  mountain-side. 
This  graxel  is  washed  through  sluices  and  the  metal  re- 
covered as  in  the  other  processes,  and  the  miner  must 
then  search  below^  the  surface. 

The  first  ])rocess  of  underground  mining  is  called 
"])locking  out,"  l)y  which  the  dirt  and  stone  surrounding 
the  ore  is  removed,  exposing  the  ore  to  view.  The  side- 
walls  are  hea\'ily  timliered,  to  prevent  their  falling  in, 
and  the  miners  l:>egin  drilling  with  great  air-pressure 
drills  to  prepare  for  the  charge  of  pow^der  wdiich  will 
"shoot""  out  the  ore.  This  ore  is  then  hauled  in  a  tram- 
car  to  the  main  shaft,  wdiere  it  is  elevated  to  the  surface. 
As  the  particles  of  gold  are  usualh'  found  in  \eins  of 
stone,  it  is  not  accessible  until  these  are  crushed,  and  this 
is  done  by  the  use  (^f  a  stani]),  which  resembles  a  tri])- 
hammer,  and  the\'  are  usuallv  arranged  in  groups  of  five, 
Some  mills  using  as  manv  as  a  thousand  stamps.  They 
w^eigh  about  five  hundred  pounds  each,  and  rise  and  fall 
about  fifteen  inches  every  second,  crushing  the  lumps  of 


^54 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


quartz  and  releasing-  the  small  particles  of  gold,  making  it 
resemble  i)lacer  gold.  Water  is  run  into  this  crushed 
stone  and  the  mixture  is  expelled  through  a  screen  over  a 
copper  apron,  which  has  been  amalgamated.  As  gold  has 
a  great  affinity  for  (luicksilver,  this  amalgam  coat  readily 
absorbs  the  particles  of  gold,  after  wliicli  it  is  scra])e(l  off 
the  copper  plate  and  the  mercury  removed  by  lical  in  a 
retort,   leaving   the   residue,   which   is   gold. 


F^~~  Z    ''/?**vL    .   '. 


Courtesy  Colo.  Southern  liy.  Co. 
WHERE    GOLD    WAS    FIRST    DISCOVERED    IN    COLORADO 

Smelting  Ore. — Some  classes  of  ore  will  not  respond 
to  this  jjrocess,  and  must  be  smelted,  by  being  ])laced  in 
a  mammoth  furnace,  with  layers  of  coke,  lime  and  ore, 
each  in  the  jndper  proportion,  or  the  mass,  when  melted, 
will  clog  the  furnace.  The  heat  required  is  intense,  neces- 
sitating the  use  of  water  jackets  or  fire-clay  lining,  around 
the  furnaces  to  ])revent  tlicir  melting  along  with  the  ore. 
After  the  charge  has  been  nielUMJ,  tlie  sul])]iur  l)unit  out 
and  carried  in  I'unu's,  the  nu'tals.  being  heavier,  n<>w  sink 
to  the  bottom  and  are  drawn  off  and  sent  t"  tlie  relinerv. 
where  the  gold  and  silver  are  separated  frinn  the  "base" 


OF    THE   United    States  255 

or  predominant  metal.  If  this  is  lead,  the  mass  is  called 
"bullion"  ;  if  it  is  copper  it  is  called  "matte."  It  may  be 
interesting  to  know  that  since  the  fires  were  first  lighted, 
under  the  furnaces  of  the  first  smelter,  in  1868,  the 
smelter  has  been  in  constant  operation  night  and  day 
ever  since.  The  principal  smelters  are  at  Denver,  Lead- 
ville,  and  Cripple  Creek,  Colorado  and  Tucson,  Arizona, 
and  refineries  are  located  at  Omaha,  Neb.,  Chicago,  111., 
and  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J. 

Ores  are  usually  spoken  of  as  "free-milling"  or  "re- 
fractory." When  the  refractory  ores  are  not  smelted  they 
are  treated  by  the  cyanide  process,  which  consists  in  first 
running  the  ore  through  crushers,  which  reduce  it  fine 
enough  to  run  through  a  20-mesh  screen.  This  is  then 
taken  by  automatic  carriers  to  large  iron  tanks,  A  weak 
solution  of  cyanide  of  potassium  is  held  in  other  tanks 
higher  up,  and  is  turned  in  from  the  bottom  of  the  ore 
tank.  The  solution  percolates  up  through  the  ore  until 
the  top  is  covered  to  a  depth  of  one  or  two  inches,  and  is 
allowed  to  stand  from  forty  to  seventy-two  hours,  by 
which  time  all  of  the  gold  is  dissolved  and  held  in  solution 
by  the  cyanide.  The  solution  is  then  drawn  oft'  from  the 
bottom,  and,  as  it  comes  out  of  the  ore  tank,  runs  through 
a  box  of  fine  zinc  shavings.  This  contact  causes  an  in- 
stant precipitation  of  all  the  gold  carried,  and  it  drops  to 
the  bottom  of  the  box.  After  the  first  solution  is  drawn 
ofif  the  tanks  are  filled  with  clear  water,  which,  passing 
through  the  boxes  containing  zinc  shavings,  saves  all  the 
gold  that  may  remain  in  the  sand,  the  process  being  called 
"washing  out."  The  zinc  shavings  and  gold  are  now 
taken  to  the  retort  room,  where  the  zinc  is  eliminated  by 
heat,  and  the  gold  molded  into  bars  or  "bricks."  These 
bricks  are  larger  than  building  l)ricks,  and  are  about 
twice  as  heavy  as  the  same  amount  of  lead,  lliey  are 
worth  from  fi\e  to  seven  thousand  dollars  each. 

In  treating  the  ores  during  the  early  history  of  the 
industry,  the  amount  of  metal  lost  by  ignorance  of  proper 


256 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


means  nearly  equaled  the  anKumt  saved.  The  smelter 
reduced  this  loss  materially,  but  this  was  unsatisfactory, 
until  pushed  to  the  present  state  of  ])erfection.  To  the 
elexen  hundred  and  forty-seven  millions  of  dollars,  which 
have  been  produced  from  Colorado  mines,  slmuld  be 
added  twenty  to  thirty  per  cent,  that  has  been  wasted 
in  the  dumps  or  the  mines,  the  tailings  from  mills  that 
spread  along  some  of  the  streams  for  miles,  and  the  slag 
piles  at  the  smelters.  A  portion  of  these  losses  are  now 
being  recovered  bv  working  over  this  refuse,  and  good 
profits  are  often  realized. 


4 


V  ■^. 


Courtesy  Colo.  Soiitlicrn  Ry.  Co. 
HYDRAULIC    MINING 


Electric  Dredging. — The  greatest  mar\el  of  UK^dern 
mim'ng  is  the  electric  dredge.  This  monster  was  invented 
l)\  a  genius  who  dng  a  hole  in  a  dump  of  refuse  from  an 
I  lid  mine,  and  l)uilt  a  barge,  u])on  which  he  placed 
powerful  ])uni]i>  and  dredging  ap])aratus.  'Mien  he  ran 
in  enouc-h  water  in  llnat  the  barge,  and  the  macliiiierv 
began  eating  into  the  earth,  bringing  up  great  (juantities 
of  dirt  and  gi-.-i\H'l.  This  i^  dnnipt'd  upon  the  barge  and 
washed  through  nnnierous  screens,  the  refuse  filling  u]) 
the  lake  at  the  rear,  as  the  machine  and  water  work 
forward.     Amalgam  plates  cnlifct  the  gold  si  >  elTectually 


OF    THE    United    States 


'^S7 


that  less  than  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent,  is  lost.  If  a  ton 
of  dirt  contains  only  ten  cents  worth  of  L;'okl,  it  is  a  i)aving' 
operation. 

Cripple  Creek. — The  richest  six  miles  on  earth  is  the 
Cripple  Creek  district.  Here,  away  down  in  the  i^ranite's 
deep  embrace,  is  the  treasnre  for  wliich  human  beings, 
all  over  the  earth,  are  toiling,  dying,  selling  their  souls 
and  bodies.  The  most  famous  mines  there  are  the  Inde- 
pendence, which  transformed  \V.  S.  Stratton  from  a  poor 
prosjoector   to   a   multi-millionaire,   and    which   he   after- 


Coiiilcsv   Co'.o.  Soullicyn  R\.   Co. 


A    SMELTER— LE.\D\'ILLE,  COLORADO 


wards  sold  for  ten  millions  more.  Another  of  his  mines, 
the  Portland,  has  jjaid  oxer  eight  millions  in  dividends, 
and  there  are  countless  others  dotting  every  hill.  But 
this  gold  is  far  beyond  the  simple  appliances  of  the  old- 
time  miner,  as  enormous  capital  is  now  recpiired  to  |)ene- 
trate  the  great  depths. 

If  one  has  a  sufficient  amount  of  courage — and  life 
insurance — he  may  step  into  an  iron  cage,  with  the  per- 
mission of  the  Su])erintendent,  and  drop  with  lightning- 
speed,  down,  say  a   thousand  feet,  there  getting  into  an 


258  TNDrSTRTAT.-COArMERCTAL     GEnCRAPTIY 

electric  tram  whicli  moves  out  horizdiUally  with  equal 
velocity.  The  trolley  wire  flashes  a  few^  feet  overhead, 
and  a  stream  of  water  trickles  along  the  track.  It  is  not 
advisable  to  reach  uj) — and  down — at  the  same  time  !  If 
this  is  a  real  mine — not  one  exploited  to  catch  visitors — 
for  a  working-  mine  does  not  solicit  visitors,  the  trip  is 
one  of  rare  attractiveness.  The  descent  to  the  depths, 
where  the  men  are  working,  reveals  the  great  pneumatic 
drill,  operated  by  six  men,  wdiich  penetrates  the  cpiartz 
vein  sufificiently  for  a  charge  of  dynamite  to  be  planted, 
the  explosion  of  which  makes  the  mountain  quiver.  Then 
great  quantities  of  the  ore  are  loaded  upon  the  ore-cars 
and  taken  to  the  surface,  to  be  shipped  to  the  smelters 
or  stani])  mills. 

The  Colorado  Silver  Mines. — The  highest  average 
grades  of  silver  ores  are  produced  about  Georgetown  and 
Silver  Plume,  Colorado.  Those  at  the  latter  place  alone 
have  produced  fifty  millions  in  silver.  Here,  as  in  almost 
every  other  district,  the  moimtains  are  literally  covered 
with  mines.  The  records  at  Georgetown  show  that 
nearly  23,000  claims  have  been  recorded  there,  and  about 
1,300  have  obtained  United  States  Patents.  There  are 
also  many  rich  siher  mines  at  Leadville. 

After  seeing  the  ore  mined,  it  should  be  followed  to 
the  smelter,  or  stamp  mills,  to  witness  further  evidence 
of  the  amotuit  of  capital,  scientific  effort  and  labor  re- 
(|uire(l  to  linisli  the  ])rocess.  Those  who  visit  Colorado 
will  be  able  to  follow  all  of  these  ste])s  without  great 
difficulty,  finally  visiting  the  United  States  Mint  at 
I  )ciiver,  where  may  l)e  seen  the  most  wondcrtul  trans- 
formation, the  icduction  of  great  bars  of  precious  metal 
into  Odin  of  all  di'noniinations. 

The  (liscoxeries  of  gold,  in  all  ]:)arts  of  the  world, 
have  furni-^lu'd  stories  of  endui-ancc  and  daring  that  have 
never  been  e(|ualled.  No  matter  how  forbidding  the  pros- 
pect has  been,  men  have  risked  their  lives,  and  exi)eri- 
enced   e\-crv  form  of  misery  and  danger  for  the  yellow 


OF    THE   United    States  259 

metal,  which  they  expected  to  bring-  them  an  equal  por- 
tion of  happiness. 

"  "Tis   gold 

Which  buys  admittance;  oft  it  doth;  yea,  and  makes 

Diana's   rangers  false  themselves,  yield  up 

Their  deer  to  stand  o'  the  stealer;  and  'tis  gold 

Which  makes  the  true  man  kill'd  and  saves  the  thief; 

Nay,  sometimes  hangs  both  thief  and  true  man  :  What 

Can  it  not  do,  and  undo?" 

Shakespeare  :    Cymbeline. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  Where  are  the  United  States  Mints  located? 
W  hy  do  coins  contain  alloy? 

2.  ^^'hen  was  gold  discovered  in  the  Yukon  Dis- 
trict? Locate  this  district  upon  a  map  of  North  America 
and  trace  a  shipment  of  ore  from  Dawson  City  to  Seattle, 
naming  the  bodies  of  water  and  railroad  lines  that  would 
be  used. 

3.  Where  is  Leadville?  How  did  it  derive  its  name? 
Locate  Tucson,  Lead  and  Deadwood. 

4.  In  what  other  countries  are  gold  and  silver  ob- 
tained? A\niere  do  we  obtain  quicksilver?  For  what  is 
it  used  in  addition  to  its  use  in  the  reduction  of  gold  from 
the  ore? 

5.  Australia,  the  Transvaal,  Guinea,  California, 
Venezuela,  Alaska,  Colorado,  and  the  Black  Hills,  have 
each  at  some  time,  stood  in  the  front  rank  in  the  pro- 
duction of  gold.     What  is  their  relative  rank  to-day? 

6.  For  what  purposes  are  gold  and  silver  used? 
What  is  the  fiat  value  of  an  ounce  of  gold?  Of  an  ounce 
of  siher?     AVhat  ratio  is  this? 

7.  Where  was  the  "Comst(^ck  Lode"?  Ls  the  mine 
in  operation  to-day?  What  can  you  learn  about  the  Sutro 
tunnel?  Where  is  Goldfield?  Carson  City?  Virginia 
City? 


26o  Industriai-Commkrcial    Geography 

8.  Where  are  the  smelters  and  refineries  located? 
Who  owns  them? 

9.  Describe  the  underi^round  workings  of  a  mine. 
If  possible,  obtain  s])ecimens  of  gold  and  silver  ore  for 
examination. 

10.  Trace  a  shipment  of  ore  from  Cripple  Creek, 
Colo.,  to  the  smelter  at  Denver,  thence  follow  the  bullion 
to  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J.,  where  it  may  be  refined.  What 
railroads   might   carry   the   shipment? 

11.  How  does  a  miner  "stake"  his  claim?  Wdiat  are 
his  riehts?  W^hat  is  a  "lead"  of  ore?  How  far  mav  it 
be  followed?     \\'hat  is  a  drift?     A  vein? 


OF    THE    United    States  261 


CHAPTER    XXIX 

A   MODEL   COPPER  MINE 

For  niany  centuries  the  chase  after  gold  stirred  the 
hearts  of  adventurous  men,  while  the  baser  metals  have 
Ijeen  sought  and  found  in  a  more  prosaic  fashion.  Yet 
copper  and  iron  ha\e  done  more  to  make  this  country 
great  than  all  the  gold  that  was  ever  mined. 

About  fifty  years  ago  copper  was  the  lure  that  led 
men  to  explore  a  wilderness  in  the  upper  peninsula  of 
Michigan  and  reveal  a  magnificent  storehouse  of  treas- 
ure on  the  shores  of  Lake  Superior.  Prior  to  that  time 
that  region  was  considered  a  hopeless  wilderness,  fit 
onl_\'  for  Indians,  fur  traders  and  trappers.  It  had  been 
known  for  nian_\-  }ears  that  the  region  was  rich  in  min- 
erals, the  Jesuits  having  found  copper  there,  and  the 
Indians  mined  it  in  a  crude  fashion.  Put  e\en  these 
were  not  the  pioneer  miners,  for  there  is  ample  evidence 
that  some  prehistoric  race  discovered  and  operated  them 
without  the  aid  of  a  promotion  syndicate  or  an  issue  of 
watered  stock. 

While  many  people,  representing  several  nations, 
passed  these  rich  deposits  by,  in  their  search  for  west- 
ern homes,  a  young  American  geologist,  Douglas  Hough- 
ton, awoke  his  countrymen  to  the  realization  of  these 
riches.  In  1841  he  submitted  a  report  to  the  state  gov- 
ernment of  Michigan,  and  there  immediately  began  a 
rush  of  treasure-seekers  into  a  country  that  was  then 
more  inaccessible  than  any  miifing  camp  of  today.  Eng- 
land had  long  held  a  monopoly  of  copper  production  of 
the  world,  as  this  was  long  before  the  discovery  of  the 
great  deposits  in  Montana,  which  have  yielded  fabulous 
wealth  for  the  copper  kings  of  Putte,  Anaconda  and 
Plelena. 


262 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


The  Lake  Superior  Copper  region  has  never  become 
notorious  by  a  war  of  greed  such  as  has  made  the 
Western  copper  mines  a  by-word  for  political  trickery 
and  corruption.  Its  history  is  a  clean  story  of  American 
commercial  success  and  the  development'  of  the  mines 
is  typified  in  the  record  of  the  famous  Calumet  and 
Hecla. 

Copper  has  become  such  a  king  among  metals,  since 


I'LUNOiNc;    a    mill    under    Tin; 
surface 

the  beginning  of  the  age  of  electricity,  that  it  adds  over 
six  hundred  million  dollars  to  the  wealth  of  the  world 
every  year,  and  its  reign  has  probably  onl\  begun. 
While  the  Calumet  and  ilecla  property  has  never  gained 
any  spectacular  notoriety,  its  i)ro<luct  has  i)aid  more  in 
dividends  than  any  otlur  mining  corporation  in  the 
world.     Over  onr  luindrcd  nuMion  dollars  have  been  paid 


OF    THE    United    States  263 

to  the  stockholders,  in  <li\idends,  in  the  ])ast  forty  years, 
on  a  total  capitalization  of  two  and  (Mie-half  millions. 
In  the  past  five  years  the  mine  has  paid  nearly  thirty 
millions  in  dividends.  It  is  no  wonder  that  the  owners 
have  kept  out  of  the  "copper  war." 

77/c  CaliiiHct  aiui  ticda  is  an  impressive  object  lesson, 
showinj.^'  how  a  great  corporation  can  look  after  the  wel- 
fare of  its  properties  and  employees  without  impairing 
its  dividends. 

Upon  making-  a  trip  to  this  region,  coming  up  Lake 
Superior  by  steamer,  one  is  impressed  by  the  fact  that 
there  is  little  devastation,  such  as  is  found  in  other  min- 
eral camps.  Back  of  the  city  of  Houghton  there  is  a 
row  of  hills  covered  with  a  second  growth  of  timber. 
Against  the  sky-line  looms  a  red  shaft-house  or  two 
and  along-  the  crest  of  the  hill  trails  a  long  train  of 
ore-laden  cars.  The  scattered  towns,  through  which  the 
electric  cars  run  to  Calumet,  have  little  of  that  ugliness 
found  in  most  mining  towns.  The  landscape  is  far  more 
attractive  than  that  which  is  seen  in  the  wake  of  the 
iron  miner.  The  tall  red  shaft-houses  are  about  the  only 
signs  of  the  wonderful  activity  that  toils  underground 
throughout  the  entire  night  and  day. 

There  are  a  dozen  ditterent  villages,  all  part  of  the 
one  vast  mining  camp, — Hecla  and  Calumet,  Laurim, 
Osceola,  Yellow  Jacket,  Blue  Jacket,  Red  Jacket,  Wol- 
verine and  Tamarack,  containing  about  fifty  thousand 
people  who  are  dependent  upon  copper  for  their  living. 
Five  thousand  men  work  for  the  Calumet  and  Hecla 
company,  and  over  half  of  them  labor  under  ground. 
There  are  more  miles  of  streets  underground  than  in  the 
towns  on  the  surface. 

Two  hundred  miles  of  shafts,  drifts  and  cross-cuts 
honeycomb  the  earth  a  mile  from  the  surface.  To  sup- 
port this  system  of  underground  highways  this  company 
uses  thirty  million  feet  of  timl)er  every  year.  Tt  is  clear- 
ing the  country  of  timber  for  five  hundred  miles  and  is 


264 


Industrtal-Commerctal    Geography 


using  up  the  forests  faster  than  are  the  lumber  interests. 
The  company  has  its  own  logging  crews  and  mills  and 
owns  its  own  forests,  this  one  feature  being  a  great  in- 
dustry alone. 

There  are  sawmills  and  carpenter  shops,  smithies 
greater  than  those  found  anywhere  else  except  in  the 
works  of  the  most  extensi\-c  manufacturers  of  machinery. 
Mfty  tons  of  steel  drills  ha\e  to  be  sharpened  every  day. 


COxMPRESSED    AlK    DRILL 


'Idiere  are  warehouses  and  su])ply  stations,  ri  ])r!\ate  rail- 
road operating  twenty  miles  of  main  track,  a  tlcet  ui 
steamboats,  all  of  which  are  kejil  in  motion  b\-  the  cop- 
per ore  that  is  hoisted  from  a  thousand  feet  beneath  the 
surface. 

Among  the  \\(irl<men  the  native-born  American  is 
in  the  small  minority.  Tlu'  ('ornwall  and  Finni->h  min- 
ers lead  in  numbers  and  there  are   lri->h,  Scotch,  Welsh, 


oi-    THE    United    States 


265 


German.  Hanish,  Scandinavian,  Im  ilicniians.  Austrians 
and  many  others,  but  this  polyj^lot  community  is  so  hiw- 
abiding-  that  there  is  no  municipal  police  force  in  the 
district.  The  towns  are  incorporated  and  controlled  by 
the  company  and  are  under  the  supervision  of  a  few  con- 
stables and  watchmen,  employed  by  the  company,  which 
also  maintains  a  metropolitan  fire  department  and  a 
municipal  theatre  which  cost  a  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
The  company  has  solved  the  immigration  problem 
by  treating  its  employees  as  human  being's.  It  owns 
about  twehe  hundred  dwelling  houses  which  are  rented 
to  employees  at  a  cost  of  6  per  cent,  on  the  investment 


From  an   ctchuuj 
MUCH     Tl.MP.ER     IS    USED    IN    MINES 


and  maintenance.  Over  a  thousand  of  the  miners  have 
purchased  similar  hduses  on  small  payments.  The  coni- 
])any  has  built  abtnit  thirty  churches  and  sold  them  to 
the  congregations,  and  maintains  eight  school  houses, 
where  twenty-five  nationalities  are  fused  in  one  great 
melting  pot  to  become  American  citizens. 

There  are  also  fine  libraries,  club  houses  with  gym- 
nasiums, bath  rooms,  bowling  alleys,  etc.,  furnished  in 
the  same  way.  A  fine  hospital  with  a  full  corps  of 
physicians  and  nurses  is  always  ready  to  attend  the  call 


266  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

of  any  miner  who  needs  such  assistance.  There  is  a 
miners  benefit  fund,  founded  by  the  company,  which 
pays  death  and  disabibty  benefits.  Each  miner  pays 
fifty  cents  per  month  toward  this  fund,  and  the  company 
donates  a  sum  ecjual  to  the  amount  thus  contributed. 

At  the  Red  Jacket  shaft  is  the  most  powerful  hoist- 
ing machinery  in  the  world,  huge  engines  of  eight  thou- 
sand horse  power  which  reel  and  unreel  a  mile  and  a 
quarter  of  wire  cable.  They  hoist  ten-ton  cars  of  ore 
from  the  bottom  to  the  surface  in  ninety  seconds !  This 
is  the  deepest  mining  shaft  in  the  world,  and  it  is  claimed 
the  efifect  of  the  earth's  revolution  may  be  detected  here, 
as  it  is  impossible  to  drop  anything  to  the  bottom  of  the 
shaft,  all  such  substances  having  always  caught  on  the 
west  side  of  the  wall. 

These  mines  are  the  greatest  fire  risk  in  the  world. 
They  are  protected  from  fire  by  a  water-main  and  under- 
ground telephone  system,  pumping  stations  and  electric 
alarm  systems.  In  1890  this  system  was  thoroughly 
tested,  but  the  fire  had  gained  fearful  headway.  The 
burning  area  was  shut  ofif  by  closing  a  system  of  fire- 
proof doors,  the  surface  opening  was  sealed  by  covering 
it  with  earth,  yet  the  fire  raged  for  three  weeks.  Such 
fires  elsewhere  have  burned  for  years,  as  there  is  more 
timber  in  those  vast  labyrinths  under  the  earth  than 
in  all  the  buildings  of  a  pretentious  cit>".  Visitors  are 
not  admitted  unless  personally  endorsed  by  the  manager, 
as  there  have  been  fires  that  were  thought  to  have  been 
of  incendiary  origin,  and  the  company  will  not  risk  such 
piratical  methods  of  curtailing  the  supply  of  copper. 

A  Typical  Copper  Smelter. — A  trip  to  the  copper 
country  should  end  with  a  trip  to  the  smelter,  near 
Houghton,  where  the  dull  urc  may  be  seen  transformed 
into  something  beautiful.  The  long  ore  trains  come 
trailing  o\er  tlu'  hills  from  the  stamp  mills,  which  have 
ground  the  ore  into  a  powder  that  looks  like  coarse 
brown  sugar.     From  the  cars  it  is  dumped  into  elevated 


OF    THE    United    States 


267 


bins,  which  shoot  it  over  to  the  great  furnaces,  whose 
heat  is  twenty-three  hundred  degrees.  Here  it  is  purified 
as  it  melts,  and  the  refiner  dumps  cordwood  into  the 
glowing  caldron  and  blows  air  through  the  mass  to  clear 
away  the  dross.  At  the  proper  time  a  gate  is  opened 
and  thelicjuid  copper  flow^s  out  like  a  dazzling  stream 
of  gold.  \Mth  a  wonderful  play  of  colored  flames  the 
liquid  travels  on  to  the  ingot  molds,  which  are  set 
around  the  edge  of  a  great  wheel. 


LOADING  COPPER  INGOTS  ON  STEAMER 


On  the  hub  of  the  wheel  sits  a  man  who  rides  his 
chariot  of  fire  with  amazing  skill  and  indifiference  to  his 
incandescent  surroundings.  On  the  outer  rim  of  the 
wheel  another  man  ])ries  the  ingots  loose,  pure  com- 
mercial copper,  made  while  you  wait,  each  ingot  weigh- 
ing forty-six  pounds  and  worth  six  dollars  in  the  metal 
market.  They  are  dumped  into  running  w^ater,  to  cool 
them,  and  then  shot  down  an  incline  onto  a  platform, 
w^here  two  men  pile  them  onto  cars  carrying  30,000 
pounds  each. 

A  queer  little  locomotive  pulls  a  train  of  these  cars, 
carrying  $4,500  worth  of  copper,  which  has  been  trans- 


268  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

formed  from  the  ore  to  its  present  state  in  a  few  min- 
utes. Only  half  a  dozen  men  have  been  eno-as:ed  in  this 
last  process,  yet  in  a  day  they  will  turn  out  two  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds  of  copper  ingots,  which  are  worth 
thirty  thousand  dollars.  The  daily  charge  of  two  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds  is  smelted  in  five  or  six  hours.  It 
is  a  most  fascinating-  mining  exhibit,  without  noise,  dirt 
or  discomfort. 

The  Michigan  copper  miner  earns  from  sixty  to 
seventy-five  dollars  per  month,  with  work  the  year 
around,  with  which  he  is  enabled  to  have  a  home,  pay 
his  bills  and  educate  his  children,  and  he  is  the  average 
immig-rant  at  that.  The  dift'erence  is  in  his  environment. 
His  employers  believe  there  is  something  more  due  him 
than  the  right  to  live  and  toil.  They  give  him  a  chance 
to  live  like  a  man,  and  when  he  looks  around  and  sees  a 
thousand  homes  owned  by  miners  who  have  begun  just 
as  he  is  beginning,  he  is  inspired  to  do  the  same.  Is  it 
any  wonder  then  that  there  are  few  labor  troubles  in 
Calumet?  The  miners  say  they  are  satisfied  with  their 
wages  and  conditions  and  prefer  to  work  the  whole  year 
around. 

\\  hile  the  profits  of  this  great  mine  are  so  dazzling 
and  enviable,  nobody  will  begrudge  them  so  long  as 
these  communities  of  mining  folk,  up  among  the  woods 
and  fields  of  JNIichigan,  are  being  made  good  Ameri- 
cans, through  the  efforts  of  the  company,  by  dealing" 
out  fair  play  and  honest  ajipreciation  of  the  bonds  be- 
tween capital  and  labor. 

FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  W  hy  is  copper  one  of  our  most  useful  nulals? 
For  what  is  it  used? 

2.  Locate  the  Rocky  .Mountain  region,  the  Lake 
.'^u])eri()r  region,  the  .Andean  region,  the  Iberian  region 
and  the  Llartz  Mountain  region.  In  what  ctnintries  arc 
each  of  these  regions  situated? 


OF     THE     UnI'IICD     StATES  269 

3.  \\'hat  city  is  the  hea(l(|uarters  of  the  ^reat  cop- 
per-niininjj;'  companies  of  this  country  r 

4.  AMiv  has  the  price  of  copper  decreased  materially 
during-  the  past  few  years? 

5.  How  do  the  mines  in  Montana  and  Arizona  com- 
pare \vith  the  Michigan  mines,  in  amount  of  cop])er 
produced  ? 

6.  W  hat  was  the  cause  of  the  "Copper  War"  in 
Moniana?  AA'hat  men  have  been  most  prominent  in  the 
development  of  the  industry  in  this  state? 

7.  A\'hat  metal  is  mixed  with  copper  to  form  brass? 
A\'hat  is  that  metal  used  for? 

8.  AMiat  is  the  extent  of  our  export  trade  in  cop- 
per?    To  what  country  is  most  of  our  surplus  sold? 

9.  Trace  a  shipment  of  copper  from  Butte,  Mon- 
tana, ])}■  rail  to  Baltimore,  Maryland,  thence  across  the 
ocean  to  the  Xetherlands.  Trace  another  shipment  from 
Phoenix,  Arizona,  b\'  rail  to  San  Pedro,  California,  and 
thence  across  the  ocean  to  Hamburg'. 

10.  AA'hat  effect  do  the  fumes  from  the  cop]ier 
smelters  have  upon  vegetation?  Upon  animal  life  in 
streams  of  water? 

11.  What  is  copper  "matte"?  How  is  copperas, 
or  \'itriol,  ol)tained?     For  what  is  it  used? 


270  Industrial-Commercial    Geogkai'iiy 


'/ 


CHAPTER    XXX 

POTTERY    AND    CLAY-WORKING 

INDUSTRIES 

The  word  '"pottery,"  in  its  widest  sense,  includes  all 
objects  made  of  clay,  molded  into  form  while  in  a  moist, 
plastic  state,  and  then  hardened  by  fire.  Clay  is  the 
most  widely  spread  and  abundant  of  all  mineral  sub- 
stances and  exists  in  many  forms,  the  white  kaolin  clays, 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  porcelain,  being  the  purest. 
The  making-  of  pottery  depends  upon  the  chemical 
changes  that  take  place  when  the  clay  is  heated  in  the  fire. 

The  art  of  making  pottery  is  one  of  the  most  extreme 
antiquity,  being  known  and  practised  by  all  knuwn  pre- 
historic races.  The  Egyptians  and  the  Greeks  have  long 
been  famous  for  their  pottery  and  porcelain.  The  high- 
est grade  was  originated  in  China,  copied  by  the  Japa- 
nese, and  later  by  European  countries.  The  wares  of 
Germany,  England  and  h>ance  have  long  led  those  of 
all  the  world  as  to  (|uality.  One  of  the  most  fam<ius 
brands  in  the  world  is  that  manufactin-ed  by  llaxiland 
&  Co.,  at  Limoges,  Erance,  and,  like  all  wares  of  high 
quality,  it  has  been  largely  copied,  and  is  sold  under 
names  of  similar  pronunciation. 

The  most  famous  wares  of  Germany  come  from  tlie 
potteries  at  Meissen,  near  Dresden,  the  product  being 
hard  transparent  jiorcelain  resenil)ling  that  of  China  and 
Japan.  Man\-  of  the  I'lnglish  l)ran(ls  arc  Avorld -famous, 
amf)ng  them  being  Wedgewood,  Ivoyal  Doulton,  Winton, 
and  Coalport :  luiglish  Uone  China  is  the  most  expensive 
chinawarc  in  the  world. 


OF    THE    United    States  271 

Indian  Pottery. — Among  the  Indians  of  the  South- 
west pottery  has  been  an  important  industry  since  pre- 
historic times.  W'liatex'er  the  shai)e  of  the  vessel,  it  was 
Iniilt  by  coiHng  upon  itself  a  long,  thin  strip  of  clay. 
After  the  desired  height  and  shape  had  been  reached 
it  was  cither  baked  unpainted,  or  the  markings  of  the 
coil  were  eliminated  and  llie  color  applied.  This  coloring 
is  generally  of  a  geometric  nature,  although  they  some- 
times represent  birds,  animal  forms,  masked  personages 
and   cosmic   symbols. 

The  manufacture  of  stoneware,  pottery,  tile  and 
china  has  been  established  in  the  United  States  for  many 
years,  and  is  now  conducted  on  the  most  extensive  scale 
in  the  East  and  in  some  portions  of  the  West — notably 
in  New  Jersey,  New  York,  Ohio,  West  Virginia  and 
Illinois,  their  lines  of  production  grading  from  the  ordi- 
nary to  the  best  grades  of  vitrified  china. 

Clay  Products. — Every  state  in  the  Union  manufac- 
tures the  coarser  clay  products — brick,  tile,  terra-cotta, 
electrical  conduits,  stove  and  furnace  fittings,  etc.,  to 
some  extent,  and  in  several  states,  notably  in  Pennsvl- 
vania.  New  ^^)rk,  Illinois  and  Iowa  the  industry  has  as- 
sumed gigantic  j^roportions.  The  increased  proportion 
of  steel-framed  buildings  has  created  a  demand  for  terra- 
cotta, and  the  demand  for  clay  products  is  rapidly  in- 
creasing. The  plastic  character  of  clay  allows  it  to  be 
moulded  into  attractive  and  novel  designs.  Modern 
architecture  also  calls  for  a  variety  of  grades  of  brick, 
and  we  have  vitrified,  waterproof,  enameled,  and  other 
grades  in  all  colors  and  finishes.  A  kiln  of  brick  can  l)e 
dug  from  clay,  carried  through  the  machinery  of  the 
factory  and  l)urned  ready  for  the  1)uilder  in  aliout  six 
days.  Ninety  per  cent,  of  all  the  tiliug  used  in  this  coun- 
try is  now  made  here. 

With  the  exception  of  the  finest  English  and  Ercnch 
china,  American  manufacturers  are  prodticing  all  vari- 
eties  of  articles   in   clay,   equal    in    (juality   to   the    finest 


272 


Industrial-Com^mehcial    Geography 


foreign  products,  from  the  coarsest  and  least  expensive 
to  those  of  the  most  artistic  finish.  The  first  porcelain 
Ijath  tubs  were  manufactured  in  this  country  fifteen  years 
ago,  and  great  cjuantities  of  wares  of  this  class  are  an- 
nually exported,  as  the  (piality  is  superior  to  tliat  manu- 
factured abroad.  These  are  not  porcelain  in  reality,  but 
steel  covered  with  a  translucent  porcelain  layer. 

The  process  of  manufacture  of  crockery-  ware  is  long 
and  tedious,  being  attended  with  many  risks  of  failure. 


Courtesy  A.  T.  &  S.  F.  Ry.  Co. 
SOUTHWEST    INDIANS    MAKING    POTTERY 


Each  piece  has  to  ])ass  through  many  hands,  from  the 
day  it  is  started  until  it  is  iinishcd  and  ready  for  sliip- 
mcnt.  .'\n  ax'crage  of  al)out  six  weeks  is  re(|uired  to  bring 
a  given  cpiantity  of  ware  through  the  kilns,  and  the  risk 
in  firing  is  great.  Absolute  loss  of  the  entire  cpiantity 
mav  result  from  \-ariation  in  raw  materials,  a  mistake  in 
the  kilns,  an  error  in  judgment  as  to  the  amount  of  heat 
required,  or  some  other  cause,  which  can  only  be  ob\iated 
by  careful  training  and  long  experience. 


OF     THE     UnTTFD     StATES  273 

Centers  of  Pottery  Making.  -Tlie  greatest  (|uaiitity 
of  while  lahle  ware  is  niainifaclured  in  tliis  eduntry  at 
r^ast  Lixerpiinl,  Ohio  and  'rreiUnn,  Xew  Jersey.  While 
Trenton  is  the  leading  pottery  prodncing  city,  Ohio  is 
tlie  leading  state  in  this  line  of  niannfactnre.  1'he  \alne 
(if  Ohio's  ])r(tdnct  is  forty-three  i)er  cent,  of  the  total  for 
the  whole  conntry,  and  there  are  more  than  a  hundred 
potteries  in  the  state.  New  Jersey  is  second,  with  a 
product  worth  twenty-six  per  cent,  of  the  product  of  the 
entire  country.  New  Jersey  is  the  largest  producer  of 
hath-tul)s  and  sanitary  ware.  The  annual  ])roduct  of 
these  two  states  is  \¥orth  fifteen  million  dollars. 

The  introduction  of  the  electric  light  demanded 
porcelain  insulators,  these  now  being  a  staple  product 
of  the  ])Otteries,  some  of  them  confining  their  operations 
to  this  one  article  alone.  One  factory  in  Ohio  makes 
common  ])la}'ing  marbles  cxclusixely  and  turns  out  an 
a\erage  ol  one  hundred  tlnmsand  per  day. 

Most  of  the  employees  of  the  ])otteries  work  on  the 
piece-work  system.  Many  women  are  employed  to  do  the 
lighter  work  and  the  decorating.  \"ery  little  machinery  is 
used,  the  pieces  being  fashioned  by  hand  upon  the  pot- 
ter's wheel,  l)y  a  method  technically  known  as  "throw- 
ing." This  process  is  illustrated  in  records  thousands  of 
years  old,  and  is  essentially  the  same  to-day.  The  work 
begins  in  the  clay  bins  on  the  ground  floor,  where  the 
materials  are  weighed,  mixed,  reduced  to  a  liquid,  and. 
after  the  removal  of  impurities,  they  are  returned  to  the 
solid  state  and  then  kneaded.  '1  he  clay  can  then  be  ke])t 
indefinitely,  if  a  i)roper  degree  of  moisture  is  retained,  and 
the  quality  improves  with  age.  It  is  claimed  that  the 
Chinese  bury  their  clay  after  it  has  l^een  ])rei)are(l,  and 
allow  it  to  remain  in  the  earth  for  years,  one  generation 
using  the  clay  mixed  b}'  their  fathers  and  ])re])aring  that 
to  be  used  by  their  sons. 

The  Potter  at  Work. — No  art  is  more  trul}'  creative, 
and  it  is  very  interesting  to  see  a  piece  rise  into  sha])e 


2/4 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


I.    Milkweed.      2.   Grape.      3.   Pine    cones.       4.   Teazel.       5.   Lily.      6.    P.lackberry 

Iilossoni.      7.   Cherry   blossoms. 


S( 


).MK     Kl  rUKSLNTATlN  K     I'AITF.K.NS     Ol-      KooKWOOD     POTTERY 


OF     THE     UnTTF.D     StATRS  275 

iiiulcr  tlie  ])oUci"'s  hand  upon  the  wheel.  The  workman 
throws  the  ball  uf  chi}'  updii  the  center  of  the  rai)idly- 
revolving' disc  and,  with  l)oth  hands,  presses  it  in  the  form 
of  a  cone.  As  the  disc  revolves  he  inserts  one  thumb 
into  the  center  of  the  cone,  allowing  the  clay  to  flow  l)e- 
tween  it  and  the  other  fingers.  As  these  squeeze  the  clay 
between  them  it  seeks  relief  from  the  pressure  by  flowing 
continually  higher  and  thinner,  and  forms  the  walls  of 
the  article  desired.  The  hands  do  everything,  and  upon 
the  delicacy  and  iirmness  of  their  touch  the  whole 
operation  depends.  PracticalK'  all  cheaper  grades  are 
moulded,  in  whole  or  in  parts.  Except  in  stoneware  pot- 
teries, throwing  is  a  lost  art,  as  all  china  is  now  made 
by  jiggering  or  casting. 

There  are  three  sets  of  kilns,  for  firing  biscuit,  glazed 
and  decorated  ware.  The  green  ware  is  first  fired  in 
cases  called  saggers,  made  of  clay.  It  is  then  dipped  in 
glaze  and  tired  again.  If  decoration  is  to  be  applied, 
it  is  then  usually  tired  again,  but  this  painting  is  some- 
times done  on  the  biscuit  under  the  glaze. 

A  new  class  of  art  is  made  at  Zanesville,  Ohio.  It 
is  called  Feroza  faience  and  has  more  the  appearance  of 
having  been  made  of  metal  than  of  clay.  The  process 
which  produces  the  rich,  bronze-like  appearance,  char- 
acteristic of  this  ware,  is  a  secret.  The  shapes  in  which 
the  ware  is  manufactured  are  artistic  and  unique,  as  they 
are  uneven  and  have  the  appearance  of  having  been  ham- 
mered out,  thus  resembling  the  Japanese  metal  ware. 

Rookwood  Pottery. — While  studying  the  work  of 
our  potteries  one  must  be  attracted  by  the  most  beautiful 
of  all  faience — the  Rookwood,  known  and  admired  the 
world  over,  and  pronounced  the  nicxst  artistic  as  well  as 
the  most  valuable  of  our  products.  This  pottery  was 
founded  in  1880  by  Mrs.  Maria  Longworth  Storer.  It 
is  managed  on  lines  unicpie  in  the  prevailing  factory 
svstem,  as  the  efifort  is  to  attain  a  higher  art  rather  than 
cheaper  processes.     No  printing  patterns  are  used  and  no 


2"/^  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 

two  pieces  are  evei-  made  alike.  F.ach  piece  is  marked, 
dated  and  signed  l)y  the  artist.  1"!ie  decorators  comprise 
men  and  women  mainly  from  the  Academy  of  Art  at 
Cincinnati,  and  a  s])irit  of  freedom  and  liberality  has 
always  prevailed,  in  order  to  cultivate  individual  artistic 
feeling  among  the  workers. 

The  decorations  are  placed  upon  the  moist  clay  be- 
fore any  hring.  the  colors  being  mixed  with  clay  and 
forming  part  of  the  ware  itself.  The  pieces,  after  deco- 
ration, are  fired  into  biscuit,  and  the  various  glazes  are 
applied  in  subsequent  firings.  The  clays  used  are  entirely 
American  and  largely  come  from  the  Ohio  Valley.  These 
native  clays,  from  the  start,  inclined  the  color  quality 
toward  yelhnvs,  browns  and  reds,  and  the  decorative 
medium  lent  itself  to  a  rather  luxuriant  style  of  orna- 
ment, all  of  which  the  transparent  glazes  merge  into 
deep,  mellow  tones.  As  the  comman.d  of  a  material  has 
strengthened,  the  beauty  of  the  ware  has  steadily  gained 
in  a  liarniony  of  all  of  the  elements  which  compose  it. 
until  form,  color,  decoration  and  glaze  combine  to  pro- 
duce those  things  of  beauty  which  elude  all  attempts  to 
imitate,  and  thus  make  this  a  com])lete  noxelty  in  the 
W(  irld's  ceramics. 

A  \ase  made  at  Rookwood.  tmder  the  conditions 
existing  there,  is  as  nnich  an  object  of  art  as  a  painted 
canvas  or  sculpture  in  marble  (tr  bronze.  An  object  of 
art  is  inuneasurabK'  more  precious  when  its  owner  knows 
that  there  is  no  other  just  like  it,  and  that  the  artistic  C(  in- 
ception ex])ressed  there  will  never  be  foimd  exactly  the 
same. 

FOR     RESEARCH 

1.  What  is  meant  by  the  term  "potter_\"? 

2.  Why  has  the  making  of  pottery  been  an  industry 
r)f  all  natiiius,  vxcu  in  ])rehistoric  times? 

3.  On  an  outline  m;i]),  >hade  the  states  most  noted 
for  the  niann  L'lclnre  iil    piittery   prixlucts. 


OF     THE     UXITED     StATES  277 

4.  How  is  the  glaze  produced  on  chinaware  and 
other  products? 

5.  How  much  time  is  recjuired  for  a  merchant  to 
order  and  receive  a  shipment  of  ware  from  England  and 
France?  What  is  the  duty  on  china?  How  is  the  im- 
porter protected  against  breakage? 

C\  Write  the  Rookwood  Potteries,  Cincinnati.  Ohio, 
for  illustrated  printed   matter  describing"  fine  pottery. 

7.  Have  you  ever  seen  a  genuine  piece  of  Indian 
Pottery?     Describe  it. 

8.  Trace  a  shipment  of  pottery  from  Limoges, 
France,  to  your  own  city,  naming  steamship  and  railroad 
lines  that  would  probably  carr}'  it. 

9.  Have  you  a  piece  of  "Haviland"  in  your  home? 
If  so,  examine  the  trade-mark  on  the  bottom  and  de- 
termine whether  or  not  vou  have  the  genuine  "Haviland 
&  Co.,  Limoges." 

10.  ^^^ly  is  good  china  pottery  expensive?  Name 
the  elements  that  enter  into  its  production,  in  order  of 
imptjrtance. 

11.  AMiat  kind  of  fuel  is  used  in  firing  clay  prod- 
ucts? 


?78 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


CHAPTER    XXXI 

CONSERVATION 

The  word  "conservation"  is  used  in  connection  with 
the  popular  crusade,  the  object  of  which  is  to  insure  the 
use  of  our  natural  resources  wisely  and  judiciously — for 
the  benefit  of  the  whole  people,  and  not  merely  for  the 
profit  of  the  few. 


Courtesy  Sail  Pedro  Route 

CONSER\ATIOX    OF    WATKR    I\    (Al^II-ORNlA    ]L\S    TRANSFORMED 

A     DKSKKT 


The  past  few  years  have  witnessed  the  establish- 
ment of  well-defined  movements,  which  are  making 
rapid  headway  toward  having  many  of  their  principles 
put  into  practical  effect.  The  conservationists  advocate 
practical  and  definite  measures  for  the  prompt  and  vig- 
orous development  of  our  natural  resources  and  for  their 
fullest  utilization  in  the  interest  of  all,  without  waste  and 
without  monopoly. 

The  field  of  conservation  is  vcrv  broad.   It  embraces  the 


OF    Tiiii    L'.\"ni:ii    States  279 

forests,  the  waters,  the  lands  and  the  minerals  of  the 
country,  Alaska  and  our  island  possessions.  The  relation 
of  all  these  factors  to  the  health  of  the  American  people 
is  embraced,  and  so  also  is  our  wild  life — animal,  bird 
and  fisheries.  While  seeking  to  preserve  all  these  various 
sources  of  health  and  wealth,  the  conservationists  have 
specialized  in  some  subjects  which  have  already  been 
brought  prominently  before  the  public.  This  has  been 
particularly  apparent  in  connection  with  the  utilization  of 
the  water  power  of  the  country.  This  movement  has 
been  in  progress  for  a  number  of  years. 

It  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost  importance  that  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  people  should  be  amply  pro- 
tected, in  connection  with  all  federal  or  state  grants  or 
franchises,  and  the  efforts  of  the  supporters  of  this  move- 
ment have  helped  to  bring  the  matter  prominently  before 
the  people.  Through  legislation  which  has  recently  led 
to  the  establishment  of  the  Appalachian  Forest  Reserve, 
and  other  similar  actions  of  our  law^-making  bodies,  prac- 
tical benefits  are  already  being  realized. 

Forest  Fire  Protection. — The  prevention  and  control 
of  forest  fires  is  another  means  of  conserving  our  natural 
resources  wdiich  is  receiving  much  attention,  but  certainly 
not  more  than  it  deserves,  when  we  stop  to  consider  what 
appalling  destruction  of  life  and  property  results  from 
every  extensive  forest  fire.  The  remedy  proposed  is  bet- 
ter patrol  systems  and  equipment  for  fire  fighting,  com- 
bined wath  more  stringent  regulations.  Better  results 
will  also  be  secured  through  the  cooperation  of  national 
and  state  governments  on  the  one  hand  and  the  private 
corporations  and  individual  owners  on  the  other. 

Pure  Water. — Another  subject  of  great  concern  is 
the  prevention  of  the  pollution  of  the  rivers  and  streams 
of  the  country  in  order  that  better  and  purer  water  may 
be  had  for  domestic  and  industrial  use.  Another  is  for 
the  protection  and  improvement   of  navigable  rivers  by 


28o 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


forest  conservation  on  their  watersheds,  throusrh  the 
purchase  or  control  by  the  nation,  of  the  necessary  land, 
in  cooperation  with  state  and  private  action  to  the  same 
end.  Equally  important  is  the  preparation  of  a  compre- 
hensive plan  for  inland  waterway  improvement,  extend- 
ing to  all  the  uses  of  the  waters  and  covering  all  sections 
of  the  country. 

Extent  of  the  Public  Domain. — Originally  our  public 
domain  amounted  to,  approximately,  1,400,000,000  acres. 


wiLvr  iKKi(;Ariox    has   done 


Of  this  nearly  all  that  is  adapted  io  agriculture,  and  the 
greater  part  of  our  mineral  wealth,  outside  of  Alaska,  has 
been  disposed  of,  over  7,000,000  acres  in  all.  Of  this  vast 
domain  corporati(-)ns  and  indixiduals  have  acquired  571.- 
000,000  acres,  only  115,000,000  acres  of  which  liave  been 
settled  upon  by  homesteaders.  The  railroads  and  other 
corporations  ha\-e  had  bestowed  upon  them,  l^y  con- 
gressional grants,  directly,  and  also  through  state  grants, 
190,000,000  acres  of  land,  as  much  as  the  combined  area 


OF    THE    United    States  281 

of  Illinois,  Indiana,  Ohio,  Wisconsin,  Missouri  and  Iowa. 
There  has  also  been  sold  by  the  government,  at  merely- 
nominal  prices,  182,000,000  acres.  A  leading  statistician 
claims  that  had  the  policy  of  leasing,  which  was  aban- 
doned in  1845,  been  continued,  and  applied  to  our  coal, 
iron  and  copper  lands,  and  lands  containing  precious 
metals,  with  suitable  provision  for  control,  the  revenue 
from  that  source  alone  would  to-day  be  sufficient  to  de- 
fray all  the  expenses  of  the  national  government. 

Regulation  of  Timber  Lands. — A  project  that  re- 
quires legislative  action  is  the  public  regulation  of  timber 
cutting  on  all  forest  lands  whose  conservation  is  essential 
to  the  general  welfare,  no  matter  whether  the  land  be 
government  property  or  privately  owmed  ;  the  taxation  of 
the  timber  crop  of  the  country  on  the  basis  of  yield,  sepa- 
rate from  the  land  on  which  it  grows ;  and  the  su]:)port 
and  extension  of  practical  forestry  by  whatever  means 
may  be  decided  upon  as  most  practical.  Another  plan 
seeks  the  conservation  and  control  of  the  unappropriated 
public  grazing  lands  by  the  government  in  the  interest  of 
the  stockmen,  but  subject  at  all  times  to  homestead  entry 
by  bona-fide  settlers. 

Safeguarding  Human  Life. — Along  with  these  spe- 
cific aims  are  purposes,  in  a  general  way,  to  diminish 
sickness,  prevent  accidents,  preserve  the  fertility  of  the 
soil  in  order  that  the  future  food  supply  of  the  people  may 
be  protected,  enforce  stringent  fish  and  game  laws  and, 
finally,  to  prolong  our  coal,  oil  and  natural  gas  supply 
by  reducing  the  waste  in  mining,  incidentally  bringing 
about  a  better  safeguarding  of  human  life  in  and  about 
the  mines. 

A  Look  Ahead.— It  is  estimated  that,  by  the  middle 
of  the  present  century,  our  population  will  be  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  million  people.  Therefore,  we  should 
realize  our  responsibility  to  the  coming  generations,  as  in 
wasting  our  resources  to-day  we  are  committing  a  great 


282 


Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


X 
H 
^    i 


oj^ 


OF    THE    United    States  283 

wrong".  It  is  contended  that  the  waste  of  tmr  mineral 
resources  alone,  at  the  present  time,  amounts  to  nearly 
three  hundred  million  dollars  per  year,  aside  from  the 
hundreds  of  lives  that,  under  present  conditions,  are  lost 
annually  in  mine  accidents,  such  as  would  not  be  toler- 
ated in  European  mines.  In  natural  gas  alone — the  most 
perfect  known  fuel — it  is  estimated  that  there  is  a  daily 
waste  sufficient  to  supply  all  the  large  cities  in  the  coun- 
try, while  in  the  case  of  coal  the  mine  waste  averages 
half  the  amount  saved.  Of  course  this  indicates  a  great 
improvement  in  mining  methods,  for  in  the  early  days  of 
the  industry  in  the  United  States  two  or  three  times  as 
much  coal  was  abandoned  in  the  mines  as  was  taken  out 
and  used. 

Fire  Protection, — The  need  of  better  fire  protection 
has  long  been  an  urgent  one,  as  our  direct  and  indirect 
losses  from  fire  reach  the  appalling  total  of  nearly  half 
the  value  of  the  new  l^uildings  erected  in  this  country. 
The  experts  claim  that  if  we  did  as  well  as  European 
countries  in  guarding  against  fire  we  could  reduce  our 
losses  four-fifths,  and  thus  save  a  million  dollars  a  day. 

The  Problem  of  Increasing  Production. — Our  farm- 
ers, also,  might  with  advantage  Ijccome  converts  to  con- 
servation, for  they  average  only  half  as  many  l)ushels 
of  wheat  per  acre  as  they  do  in  (iermany  or  England, 
where  soil  fertility  must  be  maintained  by  scientific 
methods.  During  the  past  few  years  there  has  been 
much  progress  along  this  line,  prompted  by  the  activity 
of  the  agricultural  colleges  toward  educating  the  farmers 
in  seed  selection  and  breeding,  the  study  of  soils  and 
proper  cultivation,  yet,  with  the  most  fertile  soil  in  the 
world,  we  should  produce  more  bushels  to  the  acre  than 
any  other  country. 

TJic  "abandoned  farm"  is  another  evil  of  our  system 
which  conservation  will  aim  to  correct,  just  as  it  will 
try  to  repair  the  damage  done  to  the  country  at  large 
bv  the   virtual   extermination   of  many   valuable   species 


284  INDUSTRIAL-Co^[MERCIAL     GEOGRAPHY 

of  wild  birds,  game  and  fur-l)caring  animals,  such  as  the 
buffalo,- — a  tragedy  that  has  almost  been  duplicated  in 
this  generation  in  the  case  of  the  precious  fur  seals, 
though  their  salvation  may  yet  be  secured  through  the 
efforts  of  an  international  conference  recently  held  at 
\\  ashington. 

The  Use  and  Abuse  of  Forests. — Another  argument 
in  favor  of  conservation  is  the  fact  that  there  is  taken 
from  our  forests  every  year,  not  counting  the  loss  by 
fire,  three  and  one-half  times  as  much  timber  as  is  grown 
in  the  same  period.  And,  further,  we  consume,  per 
capita,  ten  times  as  much  timber  as  do  the  people  of 
France,  who  are  famous  for  their  foresight,  thrift  and 
good  judgment.  In  all  other  countries  there  are  laws 
requiring  lumbermen  to  plant  a  certain  number  of  trees 
in  place  of  everyone  cut  down,  and  they  are  also  required 
to  prevent  all  unnecessary  waste  by  felling  trees  where 
they  will  not  injure  others  and  clear  up  all  waste, 
thereby  preventing  fires,  yet  we  have  no  provisions  of 
that  kind  in  our  laws. 

Conservation  of  Health. — Probably  very  few  people, 
who  have  not  looked  into  the  subject  carefully,  realize 
that  one  of  the  objects  of  the  conservation  movement 
is  to  wage  war  against  the  great  white  plague.  Experts 
declare  that  in  the  case  of  the  half  million  consumptives 
in  this  country,  fully  three-fourths  of  the  loss  of  life  may 
be  prevented  by  teaching  the  people  the  proper  use  of 
fresh  air  and  sunshine!  It  is  claimed  that  by  reducing 
the  loss  of  life  from  this  and  other  preventable  diseases 
the  average  length  of  life  in  this  country  would  be  in- 
creased more  than  fifteen  years !  Proper  supervision 
of  the  water  supply  would  practically  stamp  out  the 
dread  disease  of  typhoid  ! 

As  a  means  to  the  end  of  lengthening  and  strength- 
ening life  the  conservators  urge  home,  school  and 
factory  hygiene,  the  restricting  of  labor  by  women  and 


OF    THE    United    States  285 

children     and     tlie    improvement    of    the    ])u1)1ic    iTcalth 
service,  municii)al,  state  and  national. 

Public  Knowledge  of  Conditions  Necessary. — Taxes 
are  increasing,  the  cost  of  living  is  rapidly  going  higher. 
There  is  dissatisfaction  in  the  ranks  of  the  laboring  men 
who  as  yet  have  not  discovered  the  real  cause  or  remedy. 
It  is  time  that  we  hear  the  alarm  cry  of  conservation  of 
all  of  our  resources.  Legislation  will  do  nothing  to 
check  the  lack  of  development  or  destruction  of  our  re- 
sources, unless  the  people  are  trained  to  look  after  their 
interests  and  demand  what  is  due  them. 

The  Duty  of  the  Schools. — A  million  people  are 
pouring  into  this  country  every  year,  in  addition  to  our 
natural  increase.  There  may  be  room  for  all,  so  long  as 
those  in  front  move  forward,  but  we  have  reached  the 
end  of  our  domains  and  the  West  will  eventually  be  as 
crowded  as  the  East.  \\^ithin  the  next  quarter  of  a 
century  every  tillable  acre  of  land  must  produce  twice 
what  it  now  produces,  and  this  can  be  done  only  through 
scientific  farming,  which  must  be  taught  in  the  schools. 

Vocational  Guidance. — Our  public  schools  need  the 
touch  of  conservation,  in  order  that  the  great  majority 
who  do  not  attend  college  or  enter  the  professions  may 
be  better  fitted  to  battle  wnth  the  problems  of  life.  Con- 
servation is  a  principle  that  may  be  well  applied  wherever 
there  is  need  of  ecouoiiiy  or  demand  for  greater  results. 
A'ocational  guidance  under  the  direction  of  the  schools 
will  ultimately  help  many  a  student  to  find  his  proper 
place  in  the  great  industrial  world.  A  proper  knowledge 
of  what  the  world  needs  will  hcl])  advance  the  efficiency 
of  the  race. 


286  Industrial-Commercial    Geography 


FOR    RESEARCH 

1.  What  was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  Con- 
servation movement? 

2.  How  often  does  the  Conservation  Congress 
meet?    AVho  may  become  members  of  this  organization? 

3.  Locate  the  "Timber  Reserves"  of  the  United 
States.  Where  are  the  National  Parks?  What  is  in- 
cluded in  each  that  should  be  preserved  for  the  people? 

4.  What  laws  have  been  enacted  by  all  states  rela- 
tive to  the  preservation  of  fish  and  game?  What  is  the 
law  in  your  state? 

5.  In  what  way  do  the  provisions  of  the  Pure  Food 
Law  harmonize  with  the  conservation  movement? 

6.  What  is  a  forest  "ranger"?  How  many  are  in 
the  employ  of  the  Government?  How  efifective  is  their 
work? 

7.  What  concerted  action  has  been  taken  toward 
increasing  the  yield  of  all  field  crops?  With  what  suc- 
cesses ? 

8.  W^hat  is  the  connection  between  the  Reclama- 
tion service  and  Conservation?  How  can  the  proper 
direction  of  the  Forest  service  benefit  both? 

9.  What  have  the  leading  cities  done  toward  estab- 
lishing vocational  schools?  Why  should  trades  be 
taught  at  public  expense? 

10.  Why  should  the  Government  assume  control 
of  Niagara  Falls?  In  what  other  places  should  National 
reserves  be  established? 


OF   THE   United    States  287 


REFERENCE   BOOKS  FOR   RESEARCH  WORK 

Romance  of  Steel H.  N.  Casson 

Practical  Agriculture J.  W.  Wilkinson 

From  Cotton  Field  to  Cotton  Mill.  Holland  Thompson 

Coal  and  Coal  Mines Homer  Greene 

Romance  of  the  Reaper H.  N.  Casson 

Story  of  the  Mine C.  H.  Shinn 

Workers  of  the   Nation Gilson  Willets 

Corn   Bowman  and  Crossley 

Our  Inland  Seas J.  C.  Mills 

Cotton    Burkett  and  Poe 

When  Railroads  Were  New C.  F.  Carter 

The  Modern  Railroad Edw.  Hungerford 

The  Strategy  of  Great  Railroads.  .  .  F.  H.  Spearman 

The  Book  of  Wheat P.  T.  Dondlinger 

Soil  Fertility  and  Permanent  Agri- 
culture    C.  G.  Hopkins 

Elements  of  Transportation E.  R.  Johnson 

Economic  History  of  U.  S E.  L.  Bogart 

Industrial  History  of  U.  S Katherine  Coman 

History  of  Commerce Clive  Day 

Our  Inland  Seas J.  C.  Wills 

Industrial  Chemistry Rogers  and  Aubert 

Searchlights  of  American  Industries. J.  C.  Mills 
Industrial  Evolution  of  the  U.  S...C.  D.  Wright 

Year-Books  Dept.  of  Agriculture 

Farmers'  Bulletins Dept.  of  Agriculture 

Consular  Reports Dept.  of  Commerce  and  Lalior 

Ocean    and    Inland    \\'ater    Trans- 
portation    E.  R.  Johnson 

Principles  of  Industrial  Management. J.  C.  Duncan 

Industrial  Evolution  of  U.  S C.  D.  Wright 

World's  Commercial  Products Freeman  and  Cliandler 

Shelter  and  Clothing Kinnej'  and  Cooley 


INDEX 


PAGE 

Agriculture     49 

Alaska    238 

Alfalfa    , 192 

Anthracite    Coal 233,  234 

Babcock   Test    187 

Bessemer    Process    225,  229 

Bituminous  Coal 233 

Boots    206 

Brick  Kiln 271 

Butter   Alaking-    188 

California,    Oil    Fields    of 243 

Canal,  The  "Soo"   23 

"       The  Erie 28 

"       Tlie  Panama 31.    34 

The    Suez    30 

Canals,  Four  Great    28 

The   St.   Alary's   Falls 29 

Canning 212 

Carpets.  The  Making  of 122 

Cement 158,  1 59 

Cereals .  .     75 

Cheese 189 

Chocolate     104 

Clay.    Products    of 270,  274 

Coal,  Supply  of,  in  the  U.   S 232 

Anthracite   2^\t„  234 

"       Bituminous    2;^^ 

"       in  Alaska  238 

Mining  of 235,  236 

a  National  Asset 237 

Production   of • 234 

Transportation   of    ^^j 

Coffee    99 

"      Kinds    of    TOO 

"      Preparation   of lOl 


290  Index 

PAGE 

Cocoa   104, 106 

Color  Printing I7S 

Colorado,  Silver  ]\Iines  of    258 

Gold  Mines  of 251.258 

Columbia   River 215 

Commerce no 

Communication    , 49 

Competition 6 

Concrete     160,  164 

Conservation 278,  286 

Copper 261 

Mining  of   262,  263 

"         Smelting  of    266,  267 

"         Shipping   of 267 

Corn 55 

"      Products    of    56,  57 

"       Grov^ing  Sections  for , 58 

"       Soil  Preparation  for 59 

"       Canning  of 60 

Marketing  of   62 

Cotton 108 

"       Planting  of   109 

"       Where  Grown   no 

"       Preparation   of    113 

"      Uses  of  Seed n4 

"       Shipping  Centers  of n5,  1 16 

Cripple   Creek 257 

Crude  Petroleum    241 

Dairy  Products 184 

Dairying,   Alachinery  Used   in 185 

Dredging,  Electric    .•   256 

Education 48 

Electricity    8 

Farms,  Abandoned  283 

"       Increasing  Value  of 52 

Farmer,  Opportunity  for  the 53 

Farming,  Better  Methods  of 43 

Dry    43 

'J1ie  Industry  of 46 

Scientific 46 

"  Machinerv   for    50j  5i 


Index  291 

PAGE 

Fire,  Protection  from 283 

Flour,   Producing   Centers   of 71 

"         Making   of    71,    72 

Forests,  Conservation  of 145,  146 

Furniture 148 

"  Kinds  of   148,  156 

"  Designs   of    150 

"  Making  of 152 

Gold 251 

"       Mining  of   251,  256 

Grain 82,    89 

Great  Lakes    25 

Guidance,   Vocational 285 

Health,   Conservation   of 284 

Indian    Pottery    271,  272 

Iron,    Importance   of , 221 

Iron  Ore   221 

"      ^Mining  of    , 222 

"      Shipping  Routes  of 222 

"      Kinds  of   228 

Irrigation,   Importance   of 36,    Z7 

"  Results  of 44 

Kentucky   241 

Kiln,  Brick 271 

Lake  Superior   T.  ... .   224 

Lake   Superior,   Copper   Regions   of 261,262 

Lakes,  Transportation  Facilities  of 20 

"        Shipment  on 21 

"         Freighters   on   the   Great 22 

"         Passenger  Service  on  the 22 

Leather  204 

"         Tanning  of 204,  205 

"        Trade  Centers  of 204 

"        Uses   of 205,  206 

Life,   Safeguarding  of 281 

Liners,  Modern  Ocean , 13 

Linotype 1/9 

Lithographing    I77 


292  Index 

PAGE 

Lock,  The   Weitzel    .- 29 

The    Poe 30 

Lumber 139 

"         Regions  of  the  U.  S 139,  142 

Lumbering 143,  144 

Manganese    Iron     224 

Meat  Packing 194,  195 

"  "  Centers   of 197 

Meat,    Inspection    of 198 

Meats,  Cost    of 195,  196 

"        Cooling    of 199 

^lesabi    Range 223 

Michigan,  Copper  ]\Iines  of 261 

Milk   Stations    185 

"       Separators 186 

]\Iilking  Machine 191 

Mines,  Coal    235,  236 

"       Gold    251,253 

Mining,  Hydraulic 253 

Placer    252 


Newspaper   Press    180,  18 


o 


Ocean,  The 10 

Ore,  Shipping  of    226,  228 

"     Alining  of .221,  228 

Oil 241 

"     Centers   of    242 

"     Production   of    245 

"     By-products  of 246 

"     Refining  of   246,  247 

"     Exporting  of    247 

Paper 166 

Where  Produced   166 

"       Supply  of  167 

"        Making  of '  70,  173 

Pennsylvania 233 

Petroleum    241 

Photo-engraving    > 176 

Pittsburgh   229 

Pork.  Packing  of    200 

"        I  iandling    of    200,  201 


Index 


293 


PAGE 

Pottery 270,  274 

"        Making  of  .♦ 270 

"        Indian 271,  272 

"        Rookwood   274,  275 

"         Porcelain 270 

Printing    Press    175 

Pu1)lic  Domain,  Extent  of 280 

Railroads   2 

"  Value  of    2 

"  Growth  of    3,     4 

Reclamation  Projects.  Map  of 2>7 

Reclamation,   The  Act  of 39 

"  Other  Projects  of 40,   42 

Rice  , 75 

"     Food  Value  of 75 

"     Where    Grown 75,    yy 

Rice    Farming    78,    80 

Rolling  Mill   230 

Rookwood    Pottery    274 

Salmon 212 

Canning  of 212 

"  Varieties  of   213 

Fishing   for 213,  215 

Schools.  The  Duty  of 285 

Sheep    119 

Varieties  of 120 

Heiding  of   123.  125 

"         Shearing  of 126.  127 

Silage    191 

Silk,  The   Culture   of    129 

"      Manufacture  of 130,  136 

"      Centers  of  Industry    131 

"      Thread     137 

Silkworm 132.  I33 

Shoes    ^06 

Silver 25« 

Smelting    254 

Standard  Oil  Co 248,249 

Steamboats    10,    11,    12 

Steel 221,  226 

Stereotyping   1/6 

Stock  Yards I94 


294 


Index 


PAGE 

Sugar •  -91,   9^ 

Tea    102, 103 

Texas,  Oil  Fields  of 243 

Timber 281 

Transportation  .1,    10 

Typesetting  Machines 1/8 

Vocational  Guidance   ^ 285 

Waste  Places 36 

Water 279 

Wells,  Oil 242,  245 

Wheat  64,    73 

Wool 1 19,  122 

Wood  Pulp  168.  169 


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